A Divided Cross Path
by Kin Siofra
Summary: A/U: Lovino and Feliciano are in charge of their grandfather's church now that he is dead. However, what will happen when Lovino starts seeing an angel and devil? -Better than it sounds XD-
1. Prologue

A young man was walking down the dirt street in a steady motion. The sun shone down on him as if it were god himself doing so, reflecting off of his white clothing. A white hat sat on top of his dark, auburn hair and a single curl fell to the right side of his head as his chocolate, honey eyes looked around the small town. White boots were strapped on his feet but only the bottoms of them could be seen coming out from underneath the white garbs he wore. A gold-yellow sash was draped around his shoulders that were lined with silver-grey bordering.

The town he wandered around was just a small town with a population of 150 people. Mostly work buildings were lined on the street this young man walked, but some of these buildings were also the housing of some of the townspeople. Most other houses, however, were bordered in a small area farther into the town, mainly for safety reasons. The buildings were no more than two stories high and most others were just one. There wasn't any need for them to be larger than that anyways.

As the younger man walked through town, a few of the townspeople would stop walking and give a small wave to him before stepping out of his way. The young priest waved to them as well as he continued down the road. Some of the townspeople would greet him with 'Hello Father Lovino" or 'It's good to see you Father Lovino.'

Lovino was the young man's name. A bright, intelligent youth who became a priest at the age of 16 since his Grandfather passed away. It was weird for him to think such a thing could've happened since his grandfather always took good care of himself, but it did. Lovino never really wanted to be a priest at such a young age, but he had no choice. His little brother was bedridden most of the time so Lovino believed that it was his duty to take care of things. Many people would say that he was overworking himself, but he felt like he wasn't.

"Good day Father Lovino," a young woman greeted with a sweet smile and a wave as the Italian walked by. Lovino gave a slight wave back as he continued to head towards the church. Now, this church wasn't one of those extravagant ones that one would see in Vatican City or even in a different city, it was just a small church that didn't even have a second floor to it. It was noticeable from town though. A large cross sat on the roof of the white building at the edge of town. A few windows could be seen, though only two of them actually let sunlight inside while the other ones were all stain glass ones.

As Lovino came up to it, a medium-sized door was on the front and a smaller section was attached to the church which led to the bedrooms that were present there. Lovino turned the nickel-silver colored door handle and walked inside the empty church, closing it behind him. He then walked through the main area of the church before going through similar doors on the front left side of the church and into the corridor where the bedrooms and kitchen sat. Three beds rooms to be exact. Lovino was in a room while his younger brother was in another room and the last room was empty. That had been the room their grandfather had stayed while he was alive. It hadn't been touched since then though, neither brother wanting to go inside and messing anything up.

The corridor that Lovino was walking down wasn't anything fancy either. White walls with a few flower vases lining it and, at the very end, was a picture of their grandfather hanging there. Lovino looked up at it. It was hard to tell the older man's age since he seemed so young but he was about 80 years old when he died. Lovino's dark auburn hair was like his grandfather's, though not as messy in the style. The one thing Lovino and his brother were different when it came to their grandfather was that they weren't as broad. The man in the picture had broad shoulders and it looked as if he could pick up a wooden crate that was over a hundred pounds, though that probably wasn't true.

Lovino softly sighed as he walked into the kitchen where he saw a young man, not much younger than himself, cooking at the stove. This man, however, had light auburn hair but wore the same clothes as Lovino, though the sash on this one was red instead of gold.

"Ciao Feliciano…." Lovino greeted the other man. The young man, Feliciano, turned around and smiled brightly at Lovino.

"Ciao Fratello~" Feliciano greeted his brother. Yes. Feliciano was Lovino's younger brother, though most people didn't seem to know how the two were related except the fact that they looked alike. So much so that they could be mistaken for twins, which happened when new people came to the church and they had not known the two prior to their visit.

Lovino didn't like that most of the time, but would ignore it anyways since that's what his grandfather had taught him when he was but a child. He would remember his grandfather saying _"Be kind to those who do not know even if you do not like what they are saying." _Almost everyone loved their grandfather.

"Did you get to do what you wanted to do this morning?" Feliciano asked as he placed some food onto two plates and set them on the table where Lovino now resided.

"Si… I did…" Lovino replied as he looked down at the plate. Scrambled eggs and ham. Just like the two always had in the mornings. Lovino didn't mind though since the church didn't have a lot of money and they could only afford to go food shopping every once in a while.

"That's good~ Ah!" Feliciano sat down before remembering something that he wanted to say. "Fratello~ Do you believe in angels?"

Lovino coughed a bit as he inhaled some of his food at that question. "W-Where is this coming from all of a sudden!"

"W-Well… I was just wondering…." Feliciano looked down with slight disappointment at his brother's outburst. He was hoping that his brother would just answer him instead of questioning him. Lovino grumbled a few things under his breath as he took a sip of the milk that his brother set in front of them earlier.

"No…" Lovino finally replied after a few minutes as he went back to eating.

"Ve…. Why not?"

"They're only things that people made up to give themselves more faith that their loved ones were still around…" Feliciano stuck some of his food into his mouth as he remained silent for a while before looking back up at his brother.

"I believe in them…."

"And?"

"Ve… I-I thought you might make fun of me for it…"

"Why would I do that? That's what you believe and I'm not going to comment on it…" Lovino continued to eat as he stared down at it. He really didn't care if his brother believed in angels or not. To him, they were just a way to keep from forgetting the past and he didn't believe in them since he couldn't really remember the past well. Being a priest, he couldn't laugh at someone who believed in such a thing. That was something else his grandfather had taught him as well.

"O-Oh…." Was all Feliciano said as he went back to eating as well. The silence filled between the two until Lovino was done and placed his dishes into the sink. He then went back out to the church and started getting ready for morning sermon like his grandfather would always do.

Now that Lovino thought about it, he couldn't really remember anything that he did with his grandfather besides things that came with the church. He remembered how his grandfather set things up for the sermon and what he was taught to become a priest and how to deliver a sermon, but that was about it. Anything else he couldn't remember. All of it was just a blur to him. It had never occurred to him before his brother had mentioned the whole angel thing. The older Italian shook his head as he started to light the candles in the church. He was being ridiculous to think of something like that. He would just get through this sermon and then ponder on everything later. That would be the best thing at the moment.

And that's exactly what he did.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: GAH! Another fanfic **

**I just can't seem to stop thinking of fanfic ideas D| It's a curse I tell ya! A curse! XD Yeah... being a little over the top, but it's so true!**

**I'll probably be working more on my original story than this fanfic, but I will still work on this fanfic once in awhile.****  
><strong>  
><strong>Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter~ ouo<strong>

**Wow... I think my writing changed again! XD**


	2. Chapter 1

Lovino had finished up his sermon a bit earlier than he thought he would, but the Italian didn't seem to mind. He was kind of distracted during the entire time anyways. He started putting out the candles with a slightly spaced out look on his face.

"Aw… Your voice wasn't as strong today…." A voice whined, making Lovino freeze in place. He didn't know who it was that was talking to him, but he didn't like it very much. The Italian looked around the room, but it was completely empty and the only things that gave a soft glow to the place were the candles and the small amount of light streaming in through the window.

"W-What the….?" his voice shook a bit, not knowing what was going on or if he was just hearing things from overt working. The benches were still intact, so it didn't seem like someone was trying to hide. The altar was still cleaned of finger prints or dust and the door was shut and locked from what he could see. Lovino shook his head and went back to dowsing the candles.

"Aw~ Did you hear me~?" the voice asked, this time in a more sing-songy way. Lovino, once again, froze up a bit and looked around. There still wasn't anyone there so who was talking? Was he going crazy? "Up here~ Up here~" Lovino shakily looked up to the roof and, on the ledge near the window, was someone sitting there. Lovino stumbled backwards in fright, tumbling over the top of a bench.

"Gah!" he yelled as his back collided with the floor and his head colliding with the other bench behind the first. Lovino was quick to get up and look up at the man that was on the ledge but no one was there anymore, making him sigh with relief. He was just imagining things. Lovino straightened out the bench and picked up his candle dowser and turned before his chocolate honeys eyes met with emerald ones. "CHIGII!" the Italian stumbled back again, falling to his rear before looking up at the person in front of him.

Messy chocolate hair this man had and was wearing a gown that was tied with what seemed to be a glowing gold cord rope. However, the one thing that surprised Lovino the most was the pair of pure white wings on his back. The Italian couldn't believe what he was seeing. His brother must've gotten into his head about the whole angel thing. He was hallucinating, that was what was happening.

"You alright…?" the angel asked as he hovered a few inched off the ground before touching down and looking down at Lovino with concerned looking eyes. Lovino tried to speak, but only gruntel noises came out of his mouth. He was too shocked to really speak at the moment.

After a few minutes, Lovino regained his composure and stood up. He picked his candle dowser up as well and just went on with dowsing the rest of the candles. He would just pretend he didn't see anything and then get some much needed sleep. He must've been working too hard and what Feliciano said was getting to him as well. The angel just looked at Lovino with confusion, wondering why the Italian hadn't answered him at all. Was he wrong? Was Lovino unable to see him?

"I'm Antonio~" the angel commented as he hovered near Lovino with a gentle smile on his face, though Lovino seemed uninterested with him. Antonio softly sighed. "I-I guess he can't hear or see me…. but he looked like he could earlier…."

Lovino's eye twitched as he quickly finished with what he was doing and darted out of the room, the door slamming behind him as he panted. He couldn't believe that he had just seen. There was no way that such a thing could actually exist, right? The Italian was so confused at this point and didn't know what to do. He just wanted to believe that it was his imagination, but something else told him that that wasn't the case at all. The Italian needed to compose himself so he walked into his room and locked the door, sliding against the door to the floor and feeling a bit of relief wash over him. He must have imagined it if the angel hadn't followed him into his room.

"God… what the hell was that!" the Italian squeaked out as he buried his face into his knees. He didn't really see the point in wanting to see an angel. He didn't believe in them at all.

"You okay?" a familiar voice came, causing Lovino to squeak in fright and slam his head against the door. The Italian grabbed the back of his head, whining a bit since he had hit it pretty hard. "Ah! I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!"

"CHIGII!" Lovino screeched as he covered his ears and clenched his eyes shut. "I can't hear or see you! You don't exist!" Antonio looked at Lovino with confusion, wondering why he was saying that in the first place.

"You say that… but I know you can see me and hear me and… I do exist…" Antonio seemed a bit hurt that Lovino kept muttering the same words over and over again, wondering why the Italian was so conscious about being able to see him. It was just confusing to the angel.

Lovino froze a bit as he felt a warm hand on his cheek, causing him to slightly open his right eye and glance down at the tanned hand that was there. He stared at it for awhile before actually looking up at Antonio again and seeing concerned emerald green eyes staring into his chocolate honey ones. Was this really real or was he just dreaming it? No. Lovino _knew_ it was real with the warmth of the hand on his cheek. Antonio's other hand soon made contact with Lovino's left cheek and gently pulled the Italian up a bit.

"Lovino…?" the angel softly asked. His voice sounded very concerned when Lovino hadn't answered him at all. He was worried and all Lovino was doing was staring at him. The Italian's hands slid from his ears as he continued to stare at this new being with a new wonder. Never before would he think that he would see a being such as Antonio. He never would have dreamed of it. "Lovino… are you okay?"

When Antonio asked again, the Italian seemed to feel enchanted and nodded in reply, causing the angel to smile with much relief. Antonio released Lovino's cheeks and stepped back a bit before helping him to his feet.

"I'm glad~" Antonio commented cheerfully as Lovino continued to stare at him. The Italian seemed transfixed on him, more than he had even been before. Lovino just could not believe that there was an angel here who actually knew who he was and what his name was. That's when Lovino remembered what Antonio had said earlier.

"_Aw__…__Your__voice__wasn__'__t__as__strong__today__…"_

"W-What did you mean earlier w-when you said my voice wasn't as strong today…?" Lovino finally heard himself asking after a very long, _long_ silence that lingered between the two. Antonio cocked his head to the side in confusion before smiling when he remembered what it was.

"Oh~ I'm always listening to your sermons and you didn't have as strong of a voice this morning like you normally do~" Antonio replied with a gentle and clam expression on his face. "I was a little surprised and I wondered if you might have something on your mind."

"O-Oh….." Lovino slightly looked away from Antonio, not really knowing how he should answer since, earlier that morning, he had just told his little brother that he didn't believe in angels at all. Now all of this was happening right before his eyes and was now wondering if Feliciano could see Antonio as well. Lovino looked back Antonio and tried to have a slightly stern expression on his face, though it wasn't working out very well.

"Can my brother see you?" the Italian asked, folding his arms.

"Nope~" Antonio replied quickly yet cheerfully.

"W-What! Why not!"

"Angels can only be seen by those who need to see them~ Your brother doesn't need to see them~" Lovino stared at Antonio with stern, chocolate eyes.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!"

"It means that there's a reason you can see me~"

"Why would _I_have a reason for needing to see you?"

"I don't know~" Antonio replied with a goofy smile on his face. Lovino grumbled a few things under his breath before flopping down on his bed, not really sure if he could take anymore of this. The poor Italian didn't know why _he_ would need to see an angel and not his brother. He didn't believe in such things and he just didn't want to deal with it anymore. He just wished all of it was just a dream and that he would wake up to find out that it was.

With those final thoughts in his mind, Lovino slowly drifted off to sleep, the weight of being a priest seeming to slowly lift from his shoulders as he did so.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: XD Decided to finish this since I did some of my midterm this morning~ ouo wanted to finish it~ X3**

**Hope you enjoy~ ouo**


	3. Chapter 2

Lovino's amber eyes slowly opened as the sun slightly peeked through the curtains of his window. He didn't know how long he had been sleeping, but his head was fuzzy. The ceiling slightly spun, causing him to close his eyes. He felt cold and hot at the same time.

"Ve….?" A familiar voice softly yawned. Lovino was able to open his eyes slightly to see that Feliciano was rubbing his eyes. "Ah! Fratello~" Feliciano's sleepy expression became one of relief and delight at seeing his brother awake. "How are you feeling?"

Lovino groaned as he closed his eyes again as he started getting really dizzy again. "Dizzy…" he grumbled in reply as he pulled the blankets over his head. Feliciano softly laughed as he stood up and walked out of the room for a few minutes before returning with a glass of water.

"Here you go Fratello… drink~" Lovino looked out from underneath the blankets before shakily sitting up and taking sip of the water, already starting to feel better than he had been before. The more he drank the more his dizziness would slowly melt away. As Lovino finished drinking the water, he was only slightly dizzy and was able to sit up properly without feeling sick. He could also open his eyes enough so he could actually see what was going on around him.

"What happened…?" Lovino finally asked once the slight dizzy spell he had was gone. Feliciano took the glass from his brother and set it on the night stand that was in the room.

"Y-You got really sick Fratello…" Feliciano replied, his voice filled with concern for his older brother. "You're been asleep for almost a week now…"

"A-A week!" Lovino couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was asleep for almost an entire week? How sick did he get to be passed out _that_ long?

"S-Si… I was starting to get worried about you…" Lovino slightly blushed.

"S-Sorry…." Feliciano smiled at this and hugged his brother.

"It's alright Fratello~" the younger Italian chimed as he pulled out of the hug happily. "It's not your fault that you got sick~ I'll go make you something to eat~ You're probably hungry~" With that being said, Feliciano seemed to slightly skip out of the room from happiness and relief that his brother had _finally_ woken up and seemed to be doing better.

Lovino let out a soft sigh as he laid back down and looked up at the ceiling. He hadn't seen Antonio yet, so he figured that he had just imagined the whole thing. If he was sick, that was probably why he had been seeing the angel. Of course, as soon as he saw those emerald eyes looking down at him with concern, that shattered that thought into a million pieces.

"You alright?" Antonio asked softly so he wouldn't give Lovino a headache just incase the Italian still wasn't feeling well.

Lovino groaned a bit. "Si… I'm fine now…" he grumbled in response. He wished that Antonio was just a figment of his imagination, but that wasn't the case at all. He really wished it was so he wouldn't have to deal with him. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he would think? After all, it seemed that Antonio had been with him the entire time that he was laying sick in bed. He should probably be a little nicer to the angel, right?

"That's good." Antonio smiled with relief as he stood back up. "I was starting to get worried that you might not wake up."

"S-S-S-S-S-S-S-Sorry…" Lovino apologized to the angel in a stutter. He always had a hard time apologizing to everyone except for his brother. He wasn't used to it at all so he always stuttered when he tried to apologize to others.

Of course, most times he couldn't even apologize to the person because it was _that_ hard for him. No one blamed him though. Unlike his brother, Lovino had taken the fact that his grandfather died rather harshly. Of course, Feliciano didn't remember that much about him in the first place. Lovino had pretty much shut himself up for a year after that incident happened before the Italian came to his senses and knew that he had to take up the duty of taking care of the church and his little brother. He had only been 10 when his grandfather passed away and Feliciano was only 8 at that time.

During that year Lovino pretty much felt empty inside since his grandfather was the only person who actually paid any attention to him and so it was hard for him to take in the fact that he had died. Their parents had died when Lovino was only 5 years old so neither him nor his brother could really remember anything about them. It was after that that their grandfather had taken them in. Lovino really was close to his grandfather more than anyone would really know.

"Eh? Why are you apologizing?" Antonio asked with confusion.

"W-Well… f-f-for… w-w-w-w-w-worrying you…." Lovino replied, a soft blush appearing on his cheeks, deepening the already crimson looking cheeks from having his cold still slightly present. Antonio softly laughed as he placed a gentle hand on Lovino's forehead.

"It's alright~ As long as you're fine now that is all that matters at the moment~" Lovino slightly nodded as he turned his back to the angel and stared at the wall. He felt a little weird getting attention from someone other than his grandfather. Antonio softly smiled before gently flying out of the room, seeming as if he were nothing more than a gentle breeze.

Feliciano returned minutes later with a large plate of pasta for his older brother. He set it on his brother's lap before walking back out so he could fill in for his brother at the sermons. Lovino quietly ate. This time alone gave him time to think about all that was happening.

Antonio was an angel that he could see because there was a reason for him to need to see him. That was what confused Lovino the most. What reason would there need to be for him to need to see such a being as an angel? It just made no sense to him at all. He needed to figure out what it was that he needed to see Antonio for. Was because he didn't believe in angels? Or was it something else? Lovino softly sighed as he finished half of that pasta that was given to him, placing the plate down on the night stand before laying back down. He just needed to get better first before he thought more on this. Lovino softly yawn before drifting off to sleep again.

0-0-0

Antonio sat on the roof of the church, staring up at the sky. His pure white wings furled up a bit. He wondered why _he_ was chosen for such a job. Why was _he_ the one who had to come and looked after Lovino?

"Why?" he softly asked into a small mirror that he held in his hand. The angel softly sighed as he placed the mirror away again when he got no response out of it at all. Antonio looked down a bit, hugging his knees as he brought them close to his chest. "Why was I given this job?"

Antonio was probably more confused than even Lovino. He remembered how he was told to go down to Earth and find the priest named Lovino, but he didn't know _why_ he had to. The poor angel didn't really know what he should do. If Lovino tried to ask him the reason why he could see Antonio, then he wouldn't be able to provide an answer for it. Antonio softly sighed as he slightly looked up towards the sky again. He wondered if he would _ever_ be able to find out his purpose there.

For now, though, he would just have to watch over Lovino like he was told to do. That much Antonio knew he could do.

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><p><strong>AN: ****Yeah... I should probably work on my Midterm paper for the next few days! XD I am_ such_ a procrastinator! ^^; Probably not a good thing though...;;**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy and I will probably have the next chapter out sometime after I actually finish my midterm paper -;; since I really need to do that...**


	4. Chapter 3

Antonio hovered above the altar of the church as he listened to Lovino finishing up his evening sermon. He wished the older Italian would rest for at least one more day since he was afraid Lovino's cold would come back, but the Italian refused. Antonio didn't really see what the harm in one more day would be, but he wasn't Lovino so he _didn't_ know at all. The angel just listened to the strong voice that Lovino was using to give the sermon and all the people who were listening intently to it. Sometimes it surprised people when Lovino would preach loudly since he was a fairly quiet person in the first place. However, no one really cared to ask since the way that Lovino preached was enlightening. It was completely different than how Feliciano would preach to them.

Feliciano's way of preaching was more energetic and playful than Lovino's. Not that anyone minded that once in a while but sometimes they preferred Lovino's strong almost serious voice over Feliciano's. It was just when the time was right and when the time called for it that each voice was needed. In the mornings, some people preferred Feliciano's voice over Lovino's since it made them feel more energized to go to work and do what they needed. However, in the evenings some people preferred Lovino's since it was almost a melodic voice that was calm and left you wanting to just fall asleep after hearing and, sometimes, relieving the exhaustions of the day from their bodies. Of course, that also depended on the person as well.

As Lovino finished up for the evening, most of the people were relieved to just get out of there, go home, eat, and then go to bed. Lovino's words slowly faded before he went completely silent, finishing. After a moment of silent prayer, the people left the church for the evening. Lovino stood at the altar, looking around and seeing a few soldiers in the crowd, which was rare to see. Most soldiers were not fans of god nor the church, but there were, sometimes, ones that just needed to go there and get things off their chest. It was _very_ rare to see them though. It only surprised Lovino slightly to see them there but didn't comment on it at all. He didn't call to them nor did he ask to see them and ask what was bothering them. No. He just stood there and watched the people leave.

Lovino was taught _not_ to ask questions unless someone had come to him asking for guidance from god. That was the only time he _ever_ asked questions. Once the chapel was empty, Lovino went to work with cleaning the benches and altar.

"Lovino…" Antonio softly said as he landed near where the Italian was cleaning. "You really _should_ get some rest. You don't want to be passing out again, right?"

"I'll be fine…" Lovino stated rather harshly. "It's not like it takes me very long to do this kind of thing anyways." Antonio looked at Lovino worriedly, not knowing what to say to that. It had scared him before when Lovino had passed out, especially when the Italian was speaking in his unconscious slumber. Antonio could remember those words that seemed to hurt him the most.

"_Grand…pa…"_ Those were the words that Lovino had spoken out in a painful, hurt voice. To Antonio, it almost sounded like Lovino was going to cry. The angel didn't know _why_ it had hurt him to hear Lovino like that, but it did.

_Lovino… was your grandfather that important to you?_ Antonio asked himself as he watched the Italian work. He wanted to ask but felt that it would be rude to do so, so he remained silent. Antonio looked down for a moment flying back to the roof and taking out the small mirror that he had out just yesterday.

"Can I ask you a question…?" Antonio asked as he looked down at the mirror with concerned emerald green eyes. At first, there was nothing but his own reflection on it, but soon a fuzzy image of someone appeared.

"_What is it Antonio…?_" a male's voice came out from it.

"Well… about Lovino…" Antonio slightly looked away from the mirror before looking back at it. "Tell me… was Lovino lonely as a child?"

"…_I don't know why you're asking me something like that…_"

"Well… when he was sick he kept calling out for his grandfather so I thought he might be. It seems like his grandfather was someone important to him…"

"_...Antonio, you should know that trying to learn about humans past life could be tough._"

"I know that but… I just want to know…"

"…_When the moon is present and the time is right, I shall tell you then…_"

"W-What does that mean?" Antonio asked with slight confusion on his face. However, before he was answered, the image of the other disappeared and the angel was now staring at his reflection again. Antonio softly sighed as he placed the mirror away again. Why couldn't he get any straight answers? He couldn't find out his reason for needing to watch over Lovino and now he had to figure out when he could learn about Lovino's past. It was like god was teasing him or trying to avoid telling him things.

The angel shook his head as he went back to the chapel and saw that Lovino was just finishing up with the cleaning. The Italian looked up at Antonio with a slightly blank expression.

"Do you want anything…?" Lovino asked, making Antonio slightly confused.

"Do I… want anything?" Antonio asked, trying to get some clarification.

"Si… I heard that some angels drink milk or something…"

"Aw~ I see~ Warm milk is fine~" Lovino nodded as he walked off towards the kitchen, Antonio following him with a smile on his face. Antonio was surprised that Lovino actually knew a little bit about angels to know that much. He figured he'd try asking later about it. As the two got into the kitchen, Antonio saw that it was empty. He figured Feliciano was already asleep or something.

Lovino walked over to the fridge and pulled out the milk and poured some into a small pot before placing it on the stove to start warming it. Antonio looked around and, when he saw the fridge, was slightly surprised to see that it was pretty empty.

"Don't you two buy food?" the angel heard himself asking. Lovino placed the milk away and looked over at Antonio.

"We don't buy a lot of food since we can't really afford it…" Lovino replied as he pulled out a mug from the cabinet.

"You don't have a lot of money..?"

"No…" Lovino set the cup on the counter before pouring the warmed milk into it and handing it to Antonio. "We were taught that keeping the church from falling apart was more important, so we set aside most of the money we get from donations in a jar for when it's needed."

Antonio looked down into the mug he was holding before looking at Lovino again. "I-I see… but it's not really healthy for you two not to eat a lot…"

"It's fine… most of the stuff we eat is cheap so we just buy that, even if it's not the best tasting…" Lovino walked out of the kitchen, Antonio following behind.

"So… you two don't eat for every meal?" Antonio asked, wanting to hear more about it. It was kind of sad to hear that Lovino and Feliciano didn't use money that they got to buy food that was needed for them. He wondered if the church really meant that much to them.

"That's right…" Lovino replied as he walked into his room, slipping the white hat off of his head and setting on the desk. "Feliciano and I are used to it though."

"I-I see…" Was all Antonio was able to say to that.

_That's probably why Lovino got so sick…_ the angel commented in thought as he took a sip of the still warm milk. It was good to say the least, not something he had very often though. Antonio continued to drink the milk, not even paying attention as Lovino started to change into his pajamas right then and there, not even caring if Antonio was still in the room.

"Ah… Lovi…?" Antonio finally asked after sipping the milk and finally realizing what was giving the milk the sweet taste to it. Lovino turned towards Antonio, already dressed in his pajamas.

"What?" the Italian asked, his chocolate honey eyes staring at Antonio.

"What's… in this milk…?"

"I put some honey in it… why?"

"Hm….. No reason…" Antonio softly mumbled as he continued to drink it, the angel's cheeks turning a soft red color as he continued to do so. Lovino stared at Antonio for awhile before it finally occurred to him why Antonio was asking.

"Antonio... are you _drunk_?" the Italian asked _very_ skeptically as he saw that Antonio's cheeks were getting redder the more he drank the milk that was given to him. Antonio didn't reply at first since he just wanted to continuing sipping his drink but finally pulled it away and looked at Lovino again.

"No…~" he replied. "I be fine~" Of course, the way that Antonio's sentences were choppy and the way that the words were slurred was easy for Lovino to deduce that, yes indeed, Antonio was drunk. Of course, that only raised more questions that it did answers.

The first thing that Lovino wondered was how _honey_ made Antonio drunk beyond belief. It made absolutely _no_ sense to him. Then came the question of why Antonio didn't ask earlier _before_ he got addicted to drinking the milk. Of course, before Lovino could ask himself more questions, Antonio had crumbled to the floor in a heap. The angel's wings seemed to stiff up a bit before they looked as though they had disappeared altogether, causing Antonio to just lay there and not moving.

"Ah… Um…. Eh…" Lovino didn't know what to say at this point. Antonio just looked completely pathetic at this point and Lovino wasn't really sure _what_ he could ask to would make the situation better. The Italian was at a complete loss with this.

Lovino groaned with an annoyed sigh before lifting Antonio onto the bed with great effort on his part. Even if Antonio didn't look it, he was heavy. Lovino placed Antonio's upper body onto the bed before laying his legs on the bed as well. The Italian sighed again before grabbing blankets and a pillow and making himself a small bed on the ground. The Italian didn't care very much at the moment. He yawned before slipping under the covers and falling asleep, exhaustion finally taking hold of him. Within seconds Lovino had slipped into a deep slumber, one that was hard to wake from.

Even the banging noises outside were no match for the way Lovino was sleeping that night. Nothing seemed to be able to wake him up from his slumber. Even as the noises got louder and louder outside, Lovino still did not wake up. Lovino was just so tired. Before he knew it, the sunlight was peeking in through the curtain and it was that only thing that was able to wake the slumbering Italian from his sleep. Lovino groaned as he shifted a bit before his eyes slowly opened. At first Lovino was confused why he was able to see the wall that was above his desk, but then he realized that he was in his bed again. The Italian grumbled a few things as he sat up before looking around.

Lovino was slightly confused on why he was in his bed when he remembered that he had gone to sleep on the floor, but then he realized that Antonio wasn't in his bed anymore. So he figured Antonio had placed him back into the bed sometime during the night. Then it occurred to Lovino that he hadn't even _felt_ himself being moved at all. Was he really _that_ asleep last night that he couldn't even be aware of his senses? He shook his head, already knowing that was the case.

Lovino yawned as he slipped out of bed and got dressed for the day. Even though it was his brother's turn to do morning sermon for the day, he really didn't feel like sleeping in this morning since he had slept so well last night.

"Morning Lovino~" Antonio's cheerful sang as the angel appeared into the room again. Lovino looked over at Antonio as he placed his cross necklace around his neck.

"Ciao…." Lovino greeted as he placed his hat on top of his head.

"You were really asleep last night~ I was surprised~"

"I guess… You put me on the bed last night, right?"

"I did~"

"Oh…. W-Well…. T-T-T-T-T-T-Tha-a-a-a-nk…. Ugh…." Lovino was having troubles trying to thank Antonio but the angel only softly laughed at this.

"You're welcome~" Antonio replied, knowing what Lovino was already trying to say. A soft blush was on Lovino's cheeks as he walked out of the room as fast as he could, clearly embarrassed by all of this. Antonio softly laughed again before following Lovino out. The angel was a bit amused to see that there was someone that could see him that couldn't thank him at all. Only in one other case had Antonio known that someone else could actually see him, but that person was able to thank him very naturally, even though it didn't seem like it sometimes.

Lovino stopped as he remembered something, turning towards Antonio. "So… do all angels get drunk off of honey?" he asked rather bluntly. Antonio nervously laughed at this, embarrassed to actually know that had happened.

"Well… all angels get drunk off of something…" Antonio replied, a blush appearing on his cheeks. "I-I just happen to get drunk off of honey is all…"

"Oh…. Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Um… Well… I didn't really know that honey was in it until I was about half-way through it, that's why I had asked."

"Oh…" Lovino turned back around and started heading into the kitchen where his brother had already made him breakfast that was still warm enough to eat. Lovino sat down and started eating his food. Antonio floated behind him as he waited for Lovino to finish eating since he didn't have anything else to do anyways.

"So…" Lovino started speaking again as he ate. "Why do angels exist?" Antonio was slightly thrown off by this question. He'd never heard anyone wanting to know that before. The angel flew to the side of Lovino so he could look at him. Even if the Italian didn't show it, Antonio could tell that Lovino's question was sincere and not as a joke.

"Well… there are a lot of things people believe on why angels exist," Antonio replied after a few minutes of silence.

"Oh?"

"Yes. Some people believe angels were created so they could help purify souls that have been tainted in some way, whether it is by accident or purpose. Others believe angels were created to help lost souls be guided to heaven. But… we don't even understand ourselves at all…" Lovino looked over at Antonio as he said this, clearly surprised to hear this. "As angels, we've never really been told _how_ we're created. The only thing we know is that there are times we have to be sent down to Earth to help certain people."

"…Is that why I can see you?" Lovino asked softly, not really sure how to take this new information that he had just learned. Antonio gently smiled at Lovino.

"I think so, though I'm not really sure about that." Antonio looked out the small window in the kitchen. "But… I also think that's not the reason why… even when some of us are sent to help, most humans can't see us at all." Lovino stared at Antonio for awhile before looking back down at his food. This all seemed so weird and new to him that he wasn't sure how to take it.

Then, like a flash, the Italian held his head as a memory from his childhood passed through his mind's eyes. Antonio looked at Lovino with concern.

"Lovino?" Antonio asked worriedly as he placed a gentle hand on the Italian's back.

"I-I'm fine…" Lovino softly said. "J-Just got dizzy for a minute…"

"I-It's probably because you and your brother don't eat a lot like you should…" Antonio's voice was filled with much concern for Lovino. Lovino just shook it off and finished his breakfast before placing his dishes in the sink.

"I just need fresh air is all…" Lovino walked out of the kitchen and used the back door to the church to get outside. Antonio stared at where the Italian had once been with concern before following after a few seconds later. He feared that something was seriously wrong with Lovino if the Italian got dizzy like that so easily. Antonio followed behind Lovino through the garden.

From what the angel could see, the garden was well taken care of and the flowers in it were blooming well. Antonio felt a bit of serenity coming from the place as he followed Lovino through it. Even though the church was pretty small for what it could be, the garden was fairly large in comparison. He wondered why that was. In some churches he had been in, it was the exact opposite. The garden would be fairly small while the church was large.

The flowers were of plentiful colors though white lilies seemed to be the one thing that was in variety in the garden. Other flowers included roses, sunflowers (though there were very few of those), daisies, tulips, carnations, and many others. Antonio stopped and landed in front of some carnations that were there, kneeling down and looked at them. He loved carnations, though it may have seemed strange to some that an angel would like just _one_ kind of flower.

"You like those…?" Lovino asked as he stood next to Antonio. The angel looked up at Lovino with a smile and nodded.

"Yes, I do~" Antonio replied as he looked back down at them. "They're really pretty~"

"I see…." Lovino knelt down next to Antonio and looked at the flowers. "I prefer lilies over carnations."

"Oh~?" Lovino nodded. Antonio smiled more as he gently touched the petal of a carnation as his expression softened a bit more. "Carnations are pretty because they can be a variety of colors and it's always surprising when you find one that you didn't know was a color~ It's always fun to see them~"

"I see…." Lovino softly mumbled as he stood back up and started walking again. He didn't know why he was talking to Antonio like he was a real person, but something about the angel made him feel calm and serene, almost as if his grandfather was around again. Lovino stopped and looked down at the ground.

Lovino knew that wasn't true. He knew that there was something different about Antonio that was different from his grandfather. The Italian knew that much. However, he didn't know _what_ was different about Antonio that was different from his grandfather. Lovino shook his head as he started walking about. He'd worry about it later or think about it later. At the moment, he just wanted to enjoy is pleasant walk through the garden to clear his head.

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><p><strong>AN: XD I really need to work on my midterm! I just can't seem to want to sit down and do it though! D| Urgh...! It's so frustrating! It's not even that hard!**

**Anyways~ ouo Hope you enjoy this chapter that is (HOLY CRAP) pretty long for once! XD**


	5. Chapter 4

"What are you doing Lovino?" Antonio asked the next day as he saw the Italian dressing into regular clothes instead of his priest outfit. Seeing Lovino dressing up in that made him think that something was wrong.

"I'm going to go out shopping…" Lovino replied as he fixed his shirt before grabbing a small coin bag from a drawer. Antonio looked at Lovino with confusion. Why would the Italian need to go out shopping?

"Why are you dressed like that?"

"Because I can be…" Antonio slightly pouted as he heard the answer coming out of the Italian's mouth.

"That's not an answer Lovino…" the angel commented.

"Shopping is enough to understand…" Lovino stated rather bluntly as he walked out of his room. Antonio stared at Lovino with confusion before following after the Italian. He wanted to see why he was going to go out like that in the first place when he always wore his priest outfit a lot.

"I'm going out Feliciano!" Lovino called down the hall towards the kitchen. Feliciano stuck his out and smiled.

"Ve~ Okay Fratello~ Have fun~" Feliciano chimed before retreating back into the kitchen. Lovino walked out of the church with Antonio still following him. It was making Antonio even more curious about what was going on. Just yesterday he had followed Lovino through town with the Italian wearing his priest outfit, but now today was different.

As Lovino started walking through town, the people had a different feel about the Italian when they saw him. They still waved but they weren't formal with Lovino at all. They acted as though Lovino was just one of them. Like he was someone who wasn't important anymore and that he was just a hard working citizen like the rest of them. Antonio looked around and almost everyone treated Lovino as just a normal person. No one said 'Good morning Father' or even stepped off to the side when he walked down the street. That's when it finally clicked in the angel's mind.

"Aw~ I see~" Antonio chimed with a smile on his face. "I get it now~"

"Get what?" Lovino softly asked, not wanting to sound suspicious or anything like that.

"Why you're dressed the way you are~ It's because you don't want people treating you all important when you're just going out shopping, right~?"

"Si…" Lovino continued walking through town into he walked into a small shop. Antonio followed and saw that it wasn't as big as it may have looked. There was food lining a few shelves in it but that was about it.

"Ah! Lovino!" the owner of the shop chimed as he walked out of the back room, making Antonio more curious on what was back there.

"Ciao…" Lovino greeted as he walked up to the man. "I'm here to pick up the usual."

"Si." The man knelt down and took out a large bag and walked over to the shelves and started packing things into it. "How have you two been?"

"Good I suppose. Just doing everything like we normally do."

"I see." The man walked back over to the counter and set the filled bag onto the counter. "I really don't understand you two though. You buy so little food yet you two can still function as though you eat three meals everyday for a month."

"We're just used to it…" Lovino commented as the man walked into the back and returned with a small bag of flour.

"Si, but it would be better if you two ate more once in awhile to keep yourselves healthy." Lovino shrugged as he started digging through his coin bag, pulling out a few gold coins from it.

"Will-"

"It's on me today," the owner interrupted Lovino, making the Italian look up at the man with surprise.

"W-What?"

"It's on me."

"B-But…" The owner smiled as he shook his head before pulling out another bag and placing a few pastries in it as well.

"I'm not going to hear anything or it. You two boys need to eat more." Lovino looked at the second bag with pastries before looking at the owner again. "Only thing I ask is that you and your brother pray for my son's safe return from overseas. That will be enough." Lovino's hands tightened around the coins in his hands, not really believing what he was hearing. The Italian placed the coins back into his bag before tying it back to his hip.

"G-Grazie…." Lovino softly thanked as he placed the bags on his arm. "I'll be sure to pray for his safe return…"

"Grazie. Now you take care now." Lovino nodded as he thanked the owner again before walking out of the shop. He still felt bad about not paying, but sometimes the people were like that. They would just give him and Feliciano some food or some clothes and say that they didn't need to pay for it.

It was still something new to Lovino and he wasn't really sure if he could ever get used to it or not. Lovino wasn't used to anyone but his grandfather being nice to him. The Italian stopped midway on getting back to the church and looked down at the ground. He looked around before turning to Antonio and holding up a gold coin.

"Antonio, take this to the man in the shop," he ordered. Antonio stared at the coin before taking it into his hand.

"Eh? But why?" Antonio asked, his face filled much confusion when he had _just_ heard the man say that Lovino didn't need to pay for the food.

"I feel bad not giving him anything but it there's more than just one then he'll get suspicious. If he finds it then he'll just think that it was a miracle or something."

"Ah…. But Lovi…."

"Just do it." Lovino walked off again. Antonio softly sighed as he looked down at the coin before flying off towards the shop again. He really wondered if this was a good idea in the first place. He wasn't sure how the man was going to react when he saw the coin but he had to give it a shot anyways, right? Lovino _did_ ask him, even though it wasn't more of asking than commanding him to do so.

Antonio shook it off though as he entered the shop and saw that the man wasn't out at the counter. The angel looked around before hearing some noise. The angel went to the back of the shop where the noise was coming from and saw that the man had fallen off his chair. Antonio looked over at the picture on the small oak table and smiled a bit.

_That must be his son…_ Antonio thought as he retreated out of the small room and set the coin on the counter, along with another small coin, though it was a completely different color and had a different symbol on it than the money that was used. Antonio smiled again before flying off back towards the direction Lovino had gone off to.

The angel eventually returned to the church where he had seen Lovino walking in through the door. Antonio quickly followed after and headed towards the kitchen before stopping as he heard voices talking.

"Ve~! He really gave us these~?" Feliciano asked with great excitement in his voice.

"Si…" Lovino replied. Antonio cocked his head to the side before going into the kitchen to see that Feliciano was staring at the pastries that Lovino had taken out of the bags and had already started unpacking other things as well.

"Ve~ Mr. Manzoni is so nice~" Feliciano was getting ready to open the pastry before Lovino snatched them away and placed them in the kitchen, making Feliciano look down with depression. "Ve….. I wanted some…."

"We can have some after dinner…" Lovino replied as he continued placing things away. "You shouldn't _just_ eat a pastry… especially since we don't eat a lot to begin with."

"Si… I guess you're right Fratello…." Feliciano mumbled a bit as he sat in the chair, forming small circles on the table. The poor younger Italian just wanted to have some pastries now since they hadn't had anything like that in almost a year now. When the two got pastries, they tended to go fast since the two don't eat them very much. Feliciano, however, was the one who ate them the most.

Lovino was fine with not eating a lot of pastries in the first place since he wasn't that big of a fan of sugary sweets to begin with. Lovino placed everything away before folding up the paper bags and tucking them away in a drawer that held others of the same kind. Antonio softly laughed as Feliciano walked out of the room for the next sermon.

"How long have you been there…?" Lovino asked Antonio once he knew that Feliciano wasn't close enough to hear.

"Only for about a minute or two," Antonio replied as he sat on the table, a smile still plastered on his face.

"Oh…." Was all Lovino said before he walked out of the room and started towards his room. Antonio looked at the Italian with confusion before slowly following after, wondering if there was something wrong with Lovino. However, the minute Antonio had gotten out of the room, he paled as he saw Lovino collapsed on the ground.

"LOVINO!" the angel exclaimed as he quickly flew over before kneeling down next to the Italian. Lovino groaned as he shakily sat up.

"I-I'm fine…."

"No you're not! You just collapsed!"

"Just… got a little dizzy…." Lovino grabbed the door handle of his door to help himself up before walking into the room, closing the door behind him. An expression of utter concern was what plastered the angel's face now as he went into the room. Lovino was now just lying on his bed and seeming to not be feeling well at all. Antonio flew over and placed a hand on the Italian's head.

Nope. He wasn't sick at all but was _now_ wondering why Lovino was feeling dizzy all of a sudden. It didn't bother him the first time Lovino said he got dizzy, but this time seemed to be worse than before and it concerned him more than anything. Antonio looked around the room before flying out and trying to find a wash rag so he could place it on Lovino's head. Once he found it, the angel got it damp before hurrying back to Lovino's room and setting it on the Italian's head. Lovino groaned as he turned and opened his eyes.

"You didn't have to do that…" Lovino commented as he held the cloth to his forehead now. Antonio gently smiled as he shook his head.

"I wanted to…." He softly said so he wouldn't give Lovino a headache. Lovino blushed a bit as he looked away from Antonio.

"G-G-G-Grazie…."

"You're welcome~" Antonio sat down on the table in the room and smiled a bit more as he saw Lovino drift off to sleep. He was glad that Lovino was taking it a bit easy since he had been easy.

It was, at that moment, which it dawned to Antonio about what he was told and looked outside to see that the sun was still heavy in the sky. The angel nodded before looking back over to Lovino. It would be tonight that he would be told about Lovino's past like he had asked. Now it was only a matter of time before he could, finally, learn a bit more about Lovino and, perhaps, about why he was there to begin with and why Lovino could see him.

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><p><strong>AN: ****WHOO-HOO~ 8D**

**XD Now, before you say anything... I already finished my midterm paper that I needed to do. YAY~ 8D**

**Anyways, I know this chapter isn't that long but I wanted it to be this long ^^; I promise the next chapter iwill/i be long! D I swear! and if it's not then you can all stab me with a knife/shot**

**XD Anyways~ Enjoy~**


	6. Chapter 5

Antonio sat on the roof of the church as he waited for the sun to set. He held the mirror that he had spoken through before and was watching the sunset, waiting. He hoped it wouldn't be too long before he could find out. He could still hear Lovino's evening sermon going on inside the church. It wouldn't be long before Lovino finished and the sun would set. Antonio softly sighed as he looked down at the mirror again. It was starting to get boring just sitting there and waiting. However, the minute to sun was down, the mirror glowed before revealing a distorted face again.

"_You __there __Antonio__…__?_" the voice asked. Antonio smiled a bit as he heard the voice.

"Yes. I'm here," Antonio replied in a slightly quiet but gentle voice.

"…_do __you __really __wish __to __know __about __that __boy?_"

"I do… It feels strange not knowing anything about it and why I'm supposed to be protecting him…"

"_Alright__… __but __once __I __show __you __I __can__'__t __stop __no __matter __how __much __you __want __it __to __stop._"

Antonio was silent for a while before softly sighing and nodding. "I-I understand…"

"_Alright__…_" The image disappeared from the mirror before it started to glow a bright white color. Antonio clenched his eyes shut from the sheer brightness of it before he slowly opened them again and found that he wasn't on the roof of the church anymore but inside a small house. It wasn't that big like the rest of the houses that Antonio had seen when wondering through the town.

"Why don't you learn!" a voice yelled before the echoing of a slap could he heard. This alarmed Antonio and he flew over to where it was coming from. The angel froze in place as he saw a small boy holding his red cheek. A woman was the one who had hit him and that had yelled.

"L…Lovino…." Antonio softly said as he recognized the little boy. Lovino hadn't answered the woman at all as he rubbed his cheek.

"Answer me!" the woman yelled angrily, getting ready to slap Lovino again. Antonio's eyes widened but he knew he couldn't do anything since he knew all of this was nothing but an illusion of what had happened to Lovino when he was a child.

"I HATE YOU!" Lovino screamed before running off, tears streaming down his face as he ran out of the yard.

"Get back here Lovino!" Antonio looked at where Lovino had been before with a worried look on his face. He then turned his attention to the woman who stormed back into the house. Antonio followed the woman inside.

"Mama…." A small child softly said as he, or she, crawled over to the woman. "Where Fwatellwo…?"

"He ran off Feliciano…" Antonio's eyes seemed to widen as he saw Lovino and Feliciano's mother smile down at Feliciano as if nothing had happened. She picked Feliciano up and held him. "He'll be back though."

"…o-okway….." Feliciano mumbled as he looked out the door with a saddened look on his face. The small child wanted his older brother back. Antonio figured, from the looks of it, Feliciano was no more than 2 or 3 years old at this time. He was kind of surprised at how well he could speak at this age. Antonio looked at the scene of the 'perfect' family that the mother was putting on before quickly flying away to find where Lovino had gone to.

Antonio searched through town but couldn't find Lovino anywhere. That's when he came across the church. He was a bit surprised at first but then remembered that Lovino had said that his grandfather used to run it before he passed away. Antonio went inside and saw that there was a man at the altar giving a sermon. He was tall and had messy chocolate colored hair and amber eyes. He was dressed in a cream color priest outfit instead of pure white like Lovino and Feliciano wore. A gold sash was draped over his shoulders like Lovino had. The power of the man's voice surprised Antonio but it also wasn't much of a surprised at the same time since the man looked as though he could lift the small altar over his head without much problem.

Antonio hovered there and watched as the man's voice slowly died down as the sermon finished. There was a moment of silent prayer before the session finished. The people slowly exited before the church was empty again and the man walked out to the back of the church. Antonio followed before hearing sobs coming from where the kitchen was.

"Not again…." The man softly sighed as he walked into the kitchen. Antonio blinked with confusion at the man's words before following where he saw Lovino sobbing in the corner before he was picked up. "What's wrong Lovino?"

Lovino hiccupped as he buried his face into his grandfather's shoulder, his tears soaking the outfit that the man wore. "I hate mom!" the young boy choked out. "She doesn't want me around!"

"Sh…. Grandpa Julius is here…." Antonio watched the scene, feeling a little heartbroken that Lovino was crying so much. A small, helpless child just wanting attention. Was this why Lovino seemed so reserved in things? Antonio then looked at the man who defined himself as Julius and smiled a bit. Julius seemed nice and seemed to know exactly what he needed.

"I hate h-her!" Lovino choked out as he looked up at his grandfather, tears still streaming down her face. "She only… c-car-res a-about F-Felichiano…." Lovino's words were starting to get blurred from him crying so much. Julius kissed his grandchild's forehead before grabbing a slightly damp rag and wiping Lovino's face since his nose was starting to run.

"It's alright Lovino. You can stay here for today. I'll make you some pasta and then we can get Gelato, okay?" Julius smiled brightly at Lovino who nodded slightly in reply before he rubbed at his red, swollen eyes as he was set down at the table. "Stay here and I'll get started." Lovino nodded again as he curled up in the chair and softly sighed.

_Poor __Lovino__…_ Antonio thought as he watched the scene play out before his eyes. _I __don__'__t __know __what __I __would__'__ve __done __if __I __were __in __his __situation..._

Antonio blinked and, the next thing he knew, he was hovering in a small park where Lovino was not much older than before and crying in a small tree house that was there. Antonio looked up at it before his eyes widened as he saw a familiar figure leaving it.

"N-No…. I…. It can't… be…." he softly said in disbelief as he watched the figure vanish from sight. Antonio rubbed his eyes before looking again and sighing, hoping he was only seeing things. Antonio shook his head and softly sighed before seeing the sun slowly starting to set. He flew up to the tree house and peered inside, seeing that Lovino was asleep. "…guess he's tired…" Antonio gently smiled before sitting on top of the tree house and looking out.

The angel smiled a bit as he saw the sky being painted a variety of colors as the sun slowly set. Antonio smiled, thinking that it was a peaceful scene before looking down and seeing Lovino walking off. He blinked in confusion, wondering when Lovino had woken up before following after him. Antonio continued to follow after Lovino before blinking. He looked up and his eyes widened as he saw that the front door of Lovino's house was hanging open, the hinge barely staying intact at the top of it. As he peered inside, there was no light to allow for him to see what was going on clearly, especially since the sun had already set.

Antonio looked down at Lovino and saw the Italian shaking before darting inside. Antonio was a bit confused by this before he heard an agonizing scream from inside, knowing that it came from Lovino. Antonio quickly flew inside before he covered his mouth as he felt himself wanting to throw up at the sight that he saw before him. Mangled bodies of Lovino's parents. Lovino's mother was sprawled on the ground in a pool of blood while his father was up against the wall where a trail of blood started from high up on the wall and spreading downwards to where the body now rested. Both of the parents' eyes were gouged out and both had many scratches all over their bodies. Blood was still slightly seeping from the eye sockets and head.

Antonio felt himself wanting to gag when he suddenly started wondering what had happened to Feliciano. Surely whoever did this wouldn't try hurting a small child as well, would they? Panic started to fill Antonio when he finally saw Lovino holding his baby brother against him in tears. As the angel looked over, horror struck his eyes and stabbed his heart as he saw the small child bleeding from his head. Luckily, however, Feliciano was still intact unlike their parents. Antonio didn't want to think about this but had no choice since he was the one who asked to see such things. Before Antonio knew it, Lovino had run out of the house with his brother in his arms.

Antonio started following before stopping and looking back at the horrid sight. Glass from vases and cups were scattered across the floor, and the water from the vases were slowly starting to intertwine with the almost dry blood that was spread on the floor. Picture frames were cracked and barely still hanging on the wall. Antonio covered his mouth again before flying out of the house to go after Lovino. Tears fell from the angel's eyes as he searched for Lovino. Seeing such a sight was so disgusting and horrifying that he couldn't take it. Antonio landed before leaning up against a wall, panting. He couldn't stand anymore or fly anymore and just fell to his knees.

_Why__…__?_ he asked himself as his face became paler than it had been before. _Why __would __someone __want __to__…__?_ Antonio shook his head before getting back up and flying off. He wanted to make sure that Lovino and Feliciano were alright. At this moment, everything was too real for him to think that it was just a mere illusion. The smell of the blood and water mixing together was too real for him to actually think it was as well.

Eventually, Antonio found Feliciano and Lovino in a small doctor's office. Feliciano's head had been wrapped in bandages to stop the bleeding as much as possible, but it seemed as though it was only helping a bit since Antonio could see the blood starting to seep through the bandages. He could also see that Feliciano was attached to a blood IV and an IV drip. If that wasn't enough to make someone want to cry, seeing the older brother sitting on a chair near the bed and holding his little brother's hand crying would probably do it. Antonio felt his heart clench as he went inside, hearing murmured voices from the other room which only made Antonio curious. He looked at the brothers before flying into the other room to hear what was going on.

"You're not serious, are you?" a nurse asked in a soft yet concerned whisper. Antonio looked over at her and saw that she was talking to the doctor that was standing there. His sad, almost tear filled, brown eyes looking at her. He had straight, short red hair and a doctor's white jacket on that was now covered in blood stains, most likely from helping Feliciano.

"I am…" the doctor replied, the tone in his voice not something that anyone would want to hear. "If the bleeding doesn't stop soon then Feliciano will die…" Antonio's eyes widened once again at hearing this. Feliciano was just a small child and he could _die_? Antonio didn't want to believe what he was hearing.

Antonio fell against the wall before sliding to the ground, holding his head. This was too much for him to handle. He wanted to know so badly before but now that he knew he didn't _want_ to know anymore. Right now Antonio could rather forget it, but he knew he couldn't. He knew, now, why Lovino wanted to forget. It was just too horrible of a past that someone would want to know. Antonio buried his face in his knees, wanting to block out all the noise when the voice of a happy child laughing could be heard. Antonio blinked out the tears that had fallen out of his eyes before looking up to the sight of inside of the church.

The angel blinked a few more times to see if he had been seeing things right before shakily standing up, feeling weak from crying and using energy to keep himself from puking. He walked towards where he was hearing the noise and opened the door to find Feliciano happily playing in the fallen leaves in the garden. Feliciano looked older than he had before and was completely better, making Antonio realize after a while that this was a different part of the past. Feliciano looked to be older, probably around 5 or 6 at this time.

"Ve~ Fratello~! You should come play with me!" Feliciano chimed happily as his head popped out of the pile of leaves he had just jumped into. Lovino followed Feliciano's gaze over to where Lovino was and saw that the older Italian was dressed in a small cream colored priest outfit with a matching hat. The outfit also had a red ribbon on it that traced from the shoulders to the end of the sleeves.

"You know we're supposed to be raking Feliciano…" Lovino commented in almost a monotonous way. In his small hands was an almost adult size rake, though it was slightly shorter. Feliciano pouted.

"But I don't want to! It's so boring!"

"Grandpa asked us too…" Lovino went back to raking as Feliciano crawled out of the leaves and walked over to his brother.

"What happened to you Fratello? I remember that you used to be so much fun a few years ago." Lovino's raking stopped as he slightly looked at his brother before he returned to what he was doing, saying nothing at all. Feliciano pouted again as he fixed his cream colored hat before he grabbed the other rake and started helping his brother. Feliciano was wearing the same outfit as his brother, though his was a bit shorter.

_Feliciano __probably __doesn__'__t __remember__…_ Antonio thought as he watched the two doing their chore. _Though__… __why __would __he? __He __was __so __young __when __that __happened__…_ Antonio looked at Lovino with a saddened look on his face. The life filled, chocolate honey eyes he had seen when Lovino was younger was now gone and were no filled with almost no life at all. Even when he had first met Lovino, the life in his eyes was there too. Was it because he had forgotten about what had happened that day?

Antonio really couldn't know the answer to this question but that was the only one that he could think of that could be possible. Not many people would be able to recover from such an experience if it was seen at such a young age. Antonio looked down before looking back up and following the two brothers back inside. The booming voice of Julius could be heard from the other doors. Antonio could tell that the sermon just started from what he could tell.

Feliciano and Lovino made their way to their rooms and closed the doors. Antonio looked at the closed doors before going in to listen to the sermon since he needed a bit of relief to take his mind off of the things he had seen. The angel sat on the window sill where he normally sat when he listened to Lovino's sermons and closed his eyes. The power of Julius's voice and the way that the words were being spoke set Antonio at ease a bit.

Antonio slightly smiled as he realized where Lovino had gotten his speaking from, making his heart swell a bit at the thought. A blush appeared on his once pale cheeks before he shook his head. Antonio took a deep breath before slowly opening his eyes as he looked down at Julius. The sound of his voice, the tone of the voice, and the slight gestures that were used once in a while were making Antonio slowly start to feel better. As his head started to slightly fuzz, making everything blurred, he was snapped out of it by heavy sobbing. The angel's head jerked a bit as his focus came back and he looked down, seeing a coffin in the church. Emerald eyes, eventually, fell upon Feliciano and Lovino kneeling in front of the black, shiny case with streams of tears falling down their cheeks.

Antonio felt his heart clench a bit as his eyes went back to the coffin. He could see something written on it but couldn't read it from his position. Something told him that he shouldn't look, but he was too curious not to look. He gently flew down before stopping and floating backwards a bit as he covered his mouth, his eyes, for the fifth time, widening at what he had read.

'_Julius __Vargas__'_ was what was written on the top of the coffin. Antonio shook his head as he read the age on it. _'__65.__'_ That seemed too young for a grandfather to be dying at. As the case was slightly lifted, Antonio could see Julius's body inside but he felt sick again when he saw the body. The eye sockets were stretched and slightly cut but there were no eyes present. Antonio covered his mouth yet again as he felt himself wanting to puke. Whoever did this to Julius must've really hated the family or something.

_W-What __is __going __on!_ Antonio exclaimed in thought as he looked away from the coffin as he saw inside of it more, seeing the stomach wound of the man inside and his organs taken out. So much had happened in Lovino's and Feliciano's life yet Feliciano could still be happy and cheerful as though nothing _had_ happened. Did the younger Italian just not remember or was he trying _not_ to remember like Lovino?

All of this was just making Antonio even more confused than before but it was making him feel sick compared to anything. Antonio had never seen anything like this in his entire life. As an angel, someone would think that he would be but he wasn't. Antonio slid down the wall of the church again and buried his face into his hands, not wanting to see anymore. The next thing that Antonio knew, he felt a gentle breeze pass through his chocolate colored hair.

Once again Antonio lifted his head up and found that he was sitting back on the roof of the church like he had before everything started, which was of great relief to him after seeing everything that had happened.

"_Are __you __alright __Antonio__…__?_" the voice came back. Antonio blinked a few times before looking back down at the compact mirror in his hand and the distorted image was there once again.

"I-I'm…." Antonio began to say before falling silent. He wasn't fine, which was what he had wanted to say. After seeing those images and them still being imprinted freshly in his head, he couldn't be fine.

"…_I __see__… __Antonio__…_"

"T-Tell me…." Antonio interrupted as he shook his head to regain his composure. "D-Did I really see… _him_…?" There was a long, lingering silence that sat between the two before the voice sighed.

"_Yes__… __that __was __him__…_" he replied. Antonio looked down, softly sighing.

"I… I was afraid of that…"

"_That__'__s __why __you __were __sent __Antonio__… __To __protect __that __boy __from __him__…_"

"Y-You mean-!"

"_Yes__… __he__'__s __planning __on __coming __back __and __revealing __himself __to __that __boy __again__…_"

"B-But…!"

"_Antonio__… __you __know __what __his __type __does __in __certain __situations__…_"

"Yes… I know…" Antonio softly replied, hating to admit that he would know such a thing as that. "I understand… thank you…" the image slowly disappeared from the mirror before Antonio placed it away. He looked towards the night sky with the twinkling stars in the sky. The angel slightly smiled as he saw them there but still didn't know what to do anymore. Sure, the sky was relaxing to look at after everything, but he still didn't want to think about it.

_How __could __he__…__?_ He thought sadly as he looked back down. _He__… __why __did __he __have __to __kill __their __family __like __that__…__?_

Antonio shook his head before curling up on the roof and falling asleep. He needed time to clear his mind and just forget at the moment. He would just worry about it in the morning when it actually mattered. With those thoughts being placed to rest, Antonio slowly drifted off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 6

Antonio was walking around outside with Lovino that afternoon since he really had nothing better to do. Not to mention he needed to protect Lovino for whatever may happen to him. Lovino had gotten pretty used to it since Antonio had been following him around for a week now, not leaving his side at all. Though Lovino felt that sometimes it was kind of weird for Antonio to be there watching him. It was starting to make him wonder what was going on for Antonio to be doing something like that.

"Why do you keep following me everywhere?" Lovino finally asked as he stopped and turned towards Antonio who slightly froze in place at hearing such a thing. Antonio nervously laughed as he looked away.

"N-No reason…" the angel replied, though the tone in his voice was enough to make anyone suspicious, or at least anyone who could see him. Lovino leaned forward a bit as he stared straight into the angel's eyes.

"I know you're lying. So tell me the truth." Antonio started becoming even more nervous than before as Lovino said that, now knowing what to do as he looked away more. How could he tell the Italian such a thing? It's not like he could say 'Well, the devil that was in your childhood is coming after you again.' That probably wouldn't blow over so well. Either one, Lovino wouldn't believe it; or 2, the Italian would wonder what he was talking about. Either way it wasn't going to work out.

"Um…." Antonio didn't really know what to say. He softly sighed before looking at Lovino again. "I can't just hang out with you…?"

"You can, but there's a point where it just gets creepy…" Lovino stated rather bluntly. "I mean, seriously, you even follow me to the bathroom when it's not even necessary…"

Antonio nervously laughed again. "I-I'm sorry Lovi…. I guess I did cross a boundary there…"

"You think…?" Antonio looked down with a saddened look on his face.

"I know… sorry…." Lovino sighed but he turned back around.

"Whatever…" he started walking again. Antonio blinked in confusion before following Lovino again. He was slightly surprised that the Italian wasn't mad at him for it. Antonio shrugged it off though, not wanting to worry about it. He still had everything that had happened last week to worry about and try to figure out why Lovino didn't really remember his past that well. Lovino stopped walking in as he stood in front of some flowers that were just barely blooming.

"Hm…?" Antonio softly hummed as he looked down at the flowers and smiled a bit. "Did you just start growing these?"

"No…. they've been planted as long as the other ones…" Lovino replied as he got the watering can and started watering them. "Surprised they're even growing at all…" Antonio smiled a bit at this as he looked down at the sprouts. He was surprised Lovino would even care this much about flowers to begin with.

"Hey Lovino, can I ask you something?" Lovino set the watering can down before looking over at Antonio with a raised brow in confusion.

"I guess…"

Antonio smiled. "Why do you grow flowers?"

"That's a weird question to be asking…"

"Oh? I didn't think it was…" Antonio's smile turned into a slightly frown at hearing Lovino's answer but it only lasted a minute as the Italian spoke again.

"I grow them because my brother likes them…"

"Your brother?" Lovino nodded in reply as he started walking through the garden again. Antonio looked down at the flowers and slightly laughed. He never thought that Lovino would grow flowers for his brother, but it was a nice gesture to know about the Italian. Antonio stared at the flowers for a little bit longer before he followed after Lovino again.

Antonio was excited to know what the flowers would bloom into, but he would be able to wait. Though now he was trying to figure out _what_ kind of flowers they would be. That was, until he heard Lovino shriek from further down which made Antonio grow cold as he flew as quickly as he could. As Antonio flew around the corner, his blood ran cold at the sight before him.

Lovino was being pinned against the wall of the church by his neck of a man with dark chocolate hair and dark emerald green eyes. The man's skin was tanned much like Antonio's and he was wearing a black shirt with dark purple sleeves attached to it. He was also wearing dark purple pants with black on the leg of the pants which slightly covered black thigh high boots.

_N-not him!_ Antonio thought, panicking as he flew over and shoved the man away from Lovino. The man laughed as his black wings unfurled from his back, the bone structure of the wings being seen clearly.

"Now, Now, is that anyway to treat your twin brother Antonio?" the man asked with a smirk on his face. The angel looked over at him with slightly nervous eyes as he stood in front of the gasping Italian.

"You're the one who attacked," Antonio replied, a bead of sweat rolling down his face. Lovino slightly coughed before looking over, his eyes widening as he looked between Antonio and the other. Lovino could see that, except for the minor differences, the two looked exactly the same.

"So? I have a right to."

"No you don't Antonello…." The man, Antonello, shrugged as he folded his arms. As he did this, the fingerless gloves on his hands slightly tightened.

"You never were any fun…"

"That's your opinion…"

Lovino didn't know how to comprehend this new information and just sneaked away, not wanting to be in the middle of anything at that moment. He was still in shock at this point though. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. Two different beings looking exactly the same. He didn't really know how that was even possible at this point. He shook his head as he walked inside and slumped against the door. Poor Lovino was starting to wonder if this was really a dream. He knew it wasn't though, which was the worse part.

_What the hell is going on!_ Lovino asked himself. He stood up and walked to his room, maybe some sleep would help him sort things out.

0-0-0

"Stay away from Lovino!" Antonio commanded his twin brother, though it wasn't forceful in tone. He couldn't muster up enough anger to do such a thing. It was probably one of the flaws of being an angel at this point but he didn't mind.

"Like I'm going to listen to you!" Antonello retorted, wanting his brother to just shut up. He could never stand Antonio as much as he would like but his fuse when it came to him was short. "Besides, I'm here to take his-"

"No you're not! There's a reason I'm here and it's to stop you from doing so!"

"Fuck you Antonio!" Antonio stuck out his tongue before flying off, wanting to find Lovino so he could protect him like he was supposed to. Antonello, however, wasn't far behind, making Antonio stop and looking at him.

"Stop following! Just go back home like a good little boy!"

"I already told you I'm not going to listen to a whiny brat like you! So go fuck off and leave me alone!"

"and I already told you-"

"Yeah, Yeah, whatever!" Antonio pouted as he stared at Antonello. How he could _ever_ be related to someone like this was beyond him. It wasn't something he was proud of either since most everyone in heaven and hell knew about it. Luckily, everyone also knew how much the two despised each other.

Now the two just floated there, waiting to see if the other one would move or even speak at this point. Neither was looking at each other fully in the eyes or face and waited. The two would look away from each other then look at each other and then look away again. That was probably something they had in common when it came to getting something they wanted.

0-0-0

It had been a few hours and the two were still floating there and staring at each other. Neither had moved from their spot and they had now locked eyes with each other. Of course, by this time the sun was starting to set and the sky was painted an array of different colors. Lovino, by this time, had given up on trying to worry about them. He didn't care much about it anymore and, frankly, he just wanted it to be done soon. The Italian was tired of seeing things that he had always thought didn't exist.

Lovino was now giving the evening sermon, helping him completely forget about the other two that were, apparently, fighting over him for some reason. Whatever it was, he was pretty sure he didn't want to know. As his sermon slowly came to an end, he could hear the bickering Antonio and Antonello were making outside. He ignored it though as he watched the people leave. That's when Lovino decided to take care of things. He stormed out to where they were before glaring at them.

"Will you two knock it off!" the Italian growled as he glared at them. "I'm sick and tired of you two already and one of you I _just_ met!" The two looked over at Lovino with slight surprised looks on their faces. "I swear that I will find something to shut you two up and it won't be something _either_ of you will like!"

Of course, some of what Lovino said was a lie. He really didn't mind Antonio but seeing how the twins were bickering about nonsense he was starting to get really annoyed with them. Antonio and Antonello just looked at each other before looking back at Lovino and then looking away all together, but they remained silent.

"Good!" Lovino huffed out before walking back into the church. He was tired and just went straight to bed. He hoped that this nightmare was going to end soon and, with that, he fell asleep the instant his head the pillow.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I will not lie... this chapter went into the crapper after I started working on it and kind of forgot what I was going to do in the small time skip thing ;;**

**Sorry about that guys... It's short but I hope you will still like it anyways... **

**I probably won't be updating until after school is out since I have about two weeks left of school and I need to get homework done Urgh...**

**Enjoy.**

**And, yes, I named Antonio's twin Antonello so there was a difference in name and you guys wouldn't get confused... ^^;**


	8. Chapter 7

_A dark church is where Lovino stood. He didn't recognize it at all, but it gave him a bad feeling. He could hear something in the distance that sounded like dripping, though it was different than something that it would normally drip. The Italian knew that it wasn't water, that much he was sure of. Where was it coming from though? He didn't know the answer to this question when the dripping got louder and surrounded his entire being._

_Drip. Drip. It kept echoing throughout the church. This frightened Lovino to the point he felt like he wanted to run, but his legs were frozen in place. He urged himself to run. He begged himself to run, but it was no use. He couldn't. It was as though something was keeping him there, preventing him from moving at all. The sound got louder before another sound rang throughout the entire place. It sounded like a drum._

_What was it? The Italian, once again, didn't know. Tears began welling up in Lovino's chocolate honey eyes as he felt fear penetrate his entire being. Now he didn't know what to think. Voices started echoing around him, begging him to give up on life itself. He could hear other voices, but they were drowned out by the others._

"_Perish..." he heard one of them rasp out._

"_Die..." another one rasped. Lovino felt like his head was going to split open from everything he was hearing. He didn't know what any of this was or why it was even happening. Did he do something wrong? Did he make them want him to die? The voices were ones he didn't recognize at all. The voices started surrounding him like a whirlwind._

'_Stop...' he begged in thought. His voice was frozen from being able to speak. What was happening? Why was this happening? He couldn't grasp anything at the moment. His blood ran cold at the sound of a sharp scream that pierced the air. He recognized that one but he didn't want to believe who it was._

_Lovino tried to open his mouth to scream out a name, but nothing came out again. The tears flowed heavily from his eyes now. He didn't care who saw him crying at this point. All of this was just too hard on him. A whirlwind of emotions surrounded him before everything went black.  
><em>  
>0-0-0<p>

"Fratello!" Feliciano's voice called loudly to the point of almost a scream escaping from the younger Italian's mouth. Lovino's eyes snapped open at hearing this and he stared into his brother's chocolate honey eyes, a look of concern present on Feliciano's face.

"F...Fe...l-liciano..." Lovino croaked out. His throat was dry and made it hard for him to even speak the way that he wanted.

"A-Are you okay Fratello?"

Lovino was silent for along time before shaking his head from side to side. That nightmare was the worse thing he had ever had. Whether is would be true was the question that he hoped wouldn't come true. Feliciano's stomach churned a bit before a very weak and shaky smile appeared on his face.

"I-I'll... g-get you some water..." he offered before walking out of the room, not even waiting for his older brother to answer. Once the door shut, Lovino let out a shaky sigh of relief before sitting up. He could feel his hair clinging to his forehead that was covered in sweat. Lovino could even feel beads of sweat rolling down his already damp face.

_From crying..._ he thought as he looked around the room with his red and swollen eyes. He rubbed them, sighing again. Why he was riddled with nightmares lately was beyond him. Of course, none of them had even been this sever before. It had already been a month since everything had happened.

First he had met Antonio not even two months ago, which was fine with him. Something about the angel was giving ease to the poor, older Italian's mind. Antonio seemed to be helping him through something, though Lovino didn't know what. However, once Antonello had appeared, he had just been riddled with nightmares.

The nightmares Lovino had prior, however, were nothing like this one. Some of them were just memories from when he was younger like how his mother never gave him the attention he deserved or when he found out that his parents were dead. Those things didn't seem to bother him anymore since they were now a natural occurrence, and that they were just memories that he had buried away in his mind. Now it was different. This nightmare that plagued him felt so real that when Feliciano woke him up, he couldn't even believe that it wasn't true.

Feliciano returned and handed his brother the water before smiling a bit more brightly. "I'll take care of the sermons today Fratello~" he commented. "You should just rest, okay~?"

"But..."

"No buts!" Feliciano pouted a bit at his brother's attempt to protest. "You haven't been sleeping well and so I'm taking care of the sermons today! You almost passed out while doing one yesterday anyways!"

Lovino sighed. "Alright... I'll take it easy today..."

"Good~" Feliciano hugged his brother before letting out a soft 'Ve' and walking towards the door. "There's food in the fridge for you when you're ready to eat~" with that, Feliciano walked out of the room.

Lovino sipped at the water in his hands, finishing all of it before heading to the bathroom. He needed to clean himself off from all the sweat that he was drenched in. Then he would need to clean his sheets.

_So much for taking it easy..._ Lovino thought as he closed the bathroom door. The bathroom was fairly small. A shower/bath, a small sink with a small hanging mirror above it, and a toilet. Those were the only things inside the small room which everything was pretty packed into it, leaving only a small area to move around in.

The Italian removed his wet and sticky pajamas before climbing into the shower. As the warm water hit his skin, he felt as though a lot of his troubles were washing away with everything else. It felt nice to him to know this fact. Lovino just stood there, enjoying the warmth that the water brought to his chilled, ivory-tanned skin. His eyes slowly opened, staring down at the tub floor.

_What... was that dream...?_ he began asking himself.

The dream still haunted him to no end. There was something weird about that dream that wasn't normal. He never believed in the supernatural even as a priest, but now it was different. With Antonio and Antonello showing up all of a sudden, Lovino began to question everything in his life. However, the more he questioned himself the more memories he started getting back from his childhood. Lovino began to wonder if it was because of Antonio and Antonello that he was getting them back. Just thinking that made him nervous. He had purposely made himself forget all those horrible times.

The older Italian let out a sigh as he sat down in the tub, pulling his knees to his chest and burying his face into his knees. The water continued to beat down on him, which wasn't a horrible thing to Lovino. His head was pounding from trying to think about all of this at once. Lovino let out another sigh before carefully standing back up. He just wouldn't think about it then. He shook his head before he quickly finished his shower. He stepped out and wrapped a large towel around himself. He walked out of the bathroom, picking up his clothes in the process, and walked back to his room.

As he walked in, Lovino was surprised that Antonio and Antonello still hadn't bugged him. Normally Antonio and Antonello would appear and start bickering to each other about him and then they would try pulling Lovino into it. This morning, however, it was pretty quiet. Maybe it all really was just a dream that he hadn't woke up from in a while. Lovino knew that wasn't true though. The finger marks he had on his wrists from when the angel and devil would try to play tug of war with him was proof of that.

Lovino let out a third sigh before getting dressed and drying his hair. He didn't bother to comb it today since he wasn't really going anywhere special. Lovino then began pulling the sheets off of his bed so he could go wash them. He was so tired though. That shower had made him feel like that. How much he just wanted to lie down and fall back asleep again. But, no, his sheets would have to dry before he could even consider something like that.

The Italian walked out of the room with his sheets and walked towards the washroom where a large tub and sink were. He stuffed his sheets into the sink before turning the knob. The water came out of the nozzle and started to soak the sheets, pressing them down father into the sink.

_I wonder where they are…_ Lovino began to think. He still found it a bit strange that he hadn't seen Antonio or Antonello anywhere. From down the hall, he could hear Feliciano starting the morning sermon already. Lovino turned off the water and went outside to take a walk while his clothes soaked in the tub.

The weather was fairly nice but the chill of fall lingered in the air. Lovino had to pull on a coat just so he could walk outside. He could see the leaves starting to change color and most of the flowers were already dead, even the sprouts that barely had any time to even grow properly. Some of the grass had already withered and died and more was starting to follow suit. This was the time of year Lovino always hated since it always got pretty cold inside the church. There wasn't a fire place in the entire place and only the stove in the kitchen was their source of heat during the long, cold days that were ahead. During the winter, however, was much worse. They would get quiet a bit of snow and would always have to close the church a lot so the citizens wouldn't have to be out in the snow for a sermon. It was like that for most of the winter. Bitter cold nights and cold through the day.

Lovino stopped walking before looking out to the field that stretched for miles, or what it seemed.

_What am I even doing here…?_ He asked himself before sighing and continuing to walk. He had been sighing a lot lately, but he felt like it was the only stress relief he had. He didn't want to lash out at his brother since Feliciano was too nice to do that too. He could always take it out on Antonio and Antonello, though Antonio was nice and hard to yell at as well. Before Lovino even began to think about this, shouting could be heard a few feet away from him.

"You're annoying!" Antonio's voice came at a rather loud pitch.

"Is that all you're going to say!" Antonello snapped, starting to get annoyed with his twin brother.

"I might!"

Lovino sighed for the fifth time as he walked over to where their voices were coming from. He walked to the end of the church where he saw the two brothers staring at each other. Antonio huffing as he wore himself out from yelling and Antonello just glaring at Antonio because of the angel's annoyance. The Italian didn't really expect them to be getting along at all.

"You two are too loud for this early in the morning…" Lovino stated. It surprised him that his voice was so quiet compared to other days. He figured that it was just because he was tired.

"Oh! Lovi!" Antonio exclaimed as he looked over at him before covering his mouth. "S-Sorry…."

Lovino shrugged, not really caring at the moment. Antonio had started calling Lovino 'Lovi' a few weeks prior. The angel really wanted to be different than his brother so he asked the older Italian if he could call him that. Lovino disagreed at first but eventually caved in when it came to being called that pet name.

Antonello growled a bit. "You're both annoying as fuck! Especially Antonio!" the devil shot his brother a dark glare, which freaked the poor angel out a bit.

"Why are you always so mean to me? It's not like I'm really bothering anyone…"

"You are to me! You're standing in my way and it's pissing me off!" Antonello flew off without another word or another word being spoken. Lovino and Antonio watched him fly off.

"What's his problem…?" Lovino finally asked Antonio once Antonello was out of sight.

"I-I don't know... He just suddenly started yelling at me for no reason..."

"Oh…"

Lovino looked in the direction that Antonello flew before shrugging and walking again. He could really care less about him right now. Antonio followed Lovino, noticing the tired look on the Italian's face.

"Are you still not sleeping well?" the angel asked with concern.

"Si..." Lovino softly replied, slightly looking down at the ground. He really just wanted to sleep but his sheets still needed to be taken care of. Antonio fell silent as he noticed the Lovino seemed to want to not talk about anything right now. So, he just followed after the Italian who continued to walk.

'_Die…'_ a voice rasped, causing the Italian to freeze in place. Lovino looked around and didn't see anything there. His imagination?

"Something wrong Lovi…?" Antonio asked worriedly. Lovino shook his head before looking at Antonio again.

"I-I'm fine… Just… a ringing in my ear is all…" he lied, not wanting to tell Antonio the truth. He was going to keep his nightmare to himself for as long as possible.

"O-Okay…"

Lovino softly sighed yet again before everything started to spin. The grass below him seemed to be moving away from him and everything else did as well. The colors started to blur and all the shapes were gone in his eyes. He could hear his brother's voice calling out to him but he couldn't answer. His voice was gone and, before he knew it, everything went black.

0-0-0

"He just collapsed?" the doctor asked as he looked up at Feliciano, having already taken Lovino's heart rate. Feliciano nodded as he looked down at his unconscious brother worriedly.

"Si… I don't know what's wrong with him…." Feliciano could feel tears wanting to flow out of his eyes. "H-He just suddenly collapsed and I didn't know what else to do…"

"I understand… it was a good thing to come get me but I really can't find anything wrong with him…" the doctor looked up at Feliciano with his brown eyes. The man's face was slightly wrinkled under the eyes and around his mouth.

"R-Really?" Feliciano couldn't believe what he was hearing. If there wasn't anything wrong with his brother, then what _was_ happening to him? "D…Do you… um… kn-know what… m-might be wrong with him…?"

"The only thing I can think of is that he's not eating enough…"

"Ve…? Not… eating enough…?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes… he could be getting these dizzy spells because he's not eating enough food and his system isn't like it very much…"

"Ve… but… w-we eat about the same and I haven't had a dizzy spell at all…" Feliciano whimpered, getting even more worried than before.

"Well… it could happen… you should think about eating more as well just in case."

Feliciano nodded. "O-Okay…." The doctor stood up, grabbing his bag in the process before handing Feliciano a piece of paper.

"These are some of the things you two should eat to avoid this kind of thing from happening again." Feliciano took the paper and looked at it before nodding in reply. "Good… If you need any help with the payments of food let me know and I'll help."

"Ve…~ Grazie~" Feliciano thanked with a smile before the doctor walked out. He looked back down at the paper before sighing and looking over at his brother. Feliciano really was worried about Lovino.

Lovino always seemed healthy to Feliciano, so seeing his brother like this was hard on him. Feliciano shook a bit before shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. The Italian looked up with determination. It was _his_ job to take care of his older brother this time. Feliciano knew that he had to be the one to help his brother get better this time instead of the other way around.

With this new determination in his heart, Feliciano quickly ran off to his room to change. Once that was done, he took some money from the jar he and Lovino put aside for the church. He knew his brother would be mad, but Feliciano really didn't want something bad to happen to Lovino. With the money safely tucked away in his pocket, Feliciano ran off towards town to buy food for the both of them. If Lovino got mad Feliciano could just comment with 'but it was the doctor's orders!' That would probably tell his brother to that it was okay to use the money just this once. Though, deep down, the younger Italian felt like it was wrong to take the money set aside to fix up the church when needed.

_May be I shouldn't…_ Feliciano thought before shaking his head, tossing that thinking out of his head. It would be fine just this once. After all, if they weren't there, there wouldn't be any church to begin with. With new determination in his blood, Feliciano picked up the pace. It would be fine just this once.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh look guys, I lied/shot/**

**Okay... so I wasn't going to update but a _burst_ of inspiration came to me and I _had _to write this chapter out! XD**

**yeah... school's almost over so... you probably won't have to wait long for the next chapter to come out!**

**anyways, hope you enjoy~**


	9. Chapter 8

Lovino woke up to the darkness. Was he dreaming again? This wasn't the case though. Once his eyes had adjusted to it, he saw that he was in his room and that it was sometime during the night time. The Italian groggily sat up, body shaking, and looked around the room again. He was definitely in his bed with clean sheets on it.

_How... did I get here...?_ Lovino asked himself in thought as he pulled the blanket around his body from the coldness that lingered in the room ever so slightly. Lovino couldn't help but think something was wrong with him at this point. Should he go see a doctor? Of course, his thoughts were shattered when his door opened and Feliciano came in with a lighted candle, a tray of food in his hands.

"Aw! F-Fratello!" Feliciano's voice shook a bit as he spoke, relieved that his older brother was finally awake.

"F...Feli..." Lovino cringed from the scratchiness of his voice. It hurt yo speak at the moment since he throat was so dry. Feliciano quickly, yet carefully, walked over and handed Lovino the water on the tray. Lovino nodded his head in thanks as he slowly started to drink it.

It felt nice to have something cool and moist against his throat, the water slowly starting to soothe away the pain Lovino had once felt. After finishing the water, Feliciano set the tray of food in his brother's lap, only to have Lovino stare at it in shock at what he saw on it. A different array of food was there, much more than he was used to even seeing.

"Ve~ Eat up Fratello~" Feliciano chimed happily as he took a seat in the chair he had placed near the bed. Lovino continued to stare at the food set before him. Three different kinds of pasta, freshly made garlic bread, and a small piece of tiramisu for desert.

"F...Feliciano... w-where the hell did all of this come from!" Lovino finally exclaimed, not being able to believe the food he was seeing. The older Italian _knew_ these were some expensive food items.

"Ve... W-Well... the doctor said you might be passing out because you're not eating well enough... s-so he told me that I needed to get you to eat more..."

"T-That... w-where the hell did you get the..." Lovino trailed off before looking at his brother. "D-Don't tell me you..."

Feliciano looked down. "S-Si... I did, but I didn't use a lot of it..." the younger brother slightly looked up at Lovino who still was in complete and utter shock. "S-Some of it was given to us from the townspeople... T-They had heard you'd collapsed a few days ago and so they gave me a few things to help you get better..."

"...t-they did...?" Lovino asked, seeming shocked by this as well but more curious than anything. Feliciano nodded.

"T-They've all been worried about us when it came to our eating style... We don't eat a lot because we want to keep most of the money to help rebuild the church if we need to and... a-and they understand that but they still think we should take better care of ourselves. As priests... we don't think of taking money from people since our grandfather didn't really do that either..." Feliciano fell silent. Lovino was impressed that his brother even _remembered_ anything about their grandfather. He was so young at the time and, frankly, Lovino _still_ didn't remember all that much about him.

Feliciano shook his head, looking back up at Lovino. "S-So... when they had heard you'd collapsed they gave us from other types of pasta and fruit and Ms. Adrona even baked us a home-made tiramisu... I tried telling them that you wouldn't agree to something like this, but they still insisted." Feliciano gave a soft, warm, and gentle smile as he thought back to the townspeople wanting to help them. "So... I-I only really had to use some of the other money to buy some milk and a few other things... even then the owner was nice enough to give us some of it for free..."

Lovino softly sighed as he looked down at the food. He wasn't used to other people worrying about him. After his grandfather died, Feliciano was the only one who was willing to help him most of the time. Or at least that's what he had always thought. That's when Lovino starting wondering if they were only being nice to him because he was a priest.

"Grazie Feliciano..." he finally and softly thanked before he started eating. If his brother went through all this trouble then he should at least eat what was set in front of him. Who knows, maybe this _is_ why he kept getting dizzy.

"Prego~" Feliciano smiled happily as he stood up. "I need to do sermon tomorrow, so I need to sleep. You should get some more sleep when you're done~" Lovino slightly nodded since he had food in his mouth. Feliciano nodded back before walking out of the room.

Lovino stopped eating the minute his brother left and softly sighed again. Eating this much food was only going to make him throw up. He knew he had to get his body used to eating a lot of food again. He would rather not have to worry about using a lot of money, but if it was doctor's orders he really didn't have much of a choice. When it came to his health, Feliciano would insist on it. Of course, Lovino was the same way so he didn't really mind much. Once Lovino had eaten a bit of everything, he got up and walked to the kitchen. He placed a bit of plastic wrap over the tray before, somehow, placing it into the crowded fridge.

When he was heading back towards his room, a loud noise caught his ears and made him freeze in place. Lovino started to panic a bit. What happened if someone was trying to rob them? Or even kill them? A bombardment of questions entered his head but he pushed them all aside. Lovino quietly walked towards the main church where he had heard the noise. Someone or something was in there and he would see to it that, whatever it was, wouldn't hurt his little brother.

Lovino's slightly shaking hands reached for the door knob and cracked it open a bit before peering inside. The noise had stopped and the church seemed to be in order. Nothing was out of place and nothing new was there. Was he just hearing things? The Italian softly sighed as he closed the door again, heading back towards his room. He was probably just tired. Lovino laid back down in his bed and pulled the covers over him. He didn't hear anything else and, thus, slowly fell asleep again. He hoped he would feel better in the morning.

0-0-0

_He could hear the sound again. That dripping from before. However, this time he could see where it was coming from. A body. Lovino couldn't tell who the body belonged to, but he could see crimson red trickling down the arm of the body and dripping onto the floor. Lovino felt frozen in place again as he tried to figure out whose body that was hanging in mid-air, from what Lovino didn't know._

"_Die..." he heard the voice rasp out again. "Die... Give... your... sssssssoul..." Now that Lovino could listen to the voice a bit clearer, it sounded as though it was a snake. That couldn't be possible, right? Snakes couldn't talk... could they?_

"_...who...?" Lovino could finally choke out so his voice, though it was just barely heard. The place went silent, expect for that dripping sound that he could continue to hear. It wasn't long when those voices could be heard again, wisping around him. He felt his blood running cold again before, once again, everything plunged into darkness._

0-0-0

Lovino woke up with a start again, sitting up straight as he looked around the room. It was morning and he could, just faintly, hear his little brother giving the morning sermon. Lovino shakily sighed as he got out of bed. Luckily his pillow was the only thing that was soaking wet. He placed it in the tub again and washed his sweaty face. Was his dream trying to tell him something? Lovino shook his head before he went searching for Antonio. Maybe the angel knew something about all of this.

"Morning Lovi~" Antonio sang when he saw the Italian walking towards the kitchen. Lovino stopped and looked up at him, wondering why Antonio decided to come out this morning and not yesterday morning. Sure, Lovino eventually found Antonio and his twin brother fighting, but it was still a mystery to Lovino why Antonio didn't come out a few mornings ago when he normally did.

"M-Morning..." Lovino softly greeted as he slumped over to the fridge and took out the food his brother had made for him last night. He warmed it up in the oven before sitting down and eating it.

"Something wrong Lovi? You don't... seem well again..."

"Well... just been having nightmares lately is all..."

"About what?" Lovino fell silent, which made Antonio more worried than before. "Is... it something bad?"

"Si... I was... k-kind of wondering if... maybe you could tell me what it meant?" Lovino asked. His gaze was towards his food but he had stopped eating, feeling his stomach churn as he remembered those nightmares. He knew that the crimson red in his dream was blood but he didn't know _whose_ blood it was.

"Of course you can Lovi, what is it?" Antonio landed on the floor and stood next to Lovino, waiting for him to speak. If it was something that he could help the Italian with, he'd be _more_ than happy to listen.

Lovino took a deep breath. "Well... in my dream I'm in a church... not this one but a different one..." Lovino replied. "And... i-in front of me is a body floating or dangling in the air... and... b-blood is dripping onto the floor... I..." he swallowed a large lump in his throat as he tried to continue with what he was saying. "...t-there's voices... a-around me... a-and then I wake up when all of them start speaking to me..."

Antonio felt dread run throughout his veins as he listened to Lovino speaking. This was something he had feared when he saw Lovino pass out yesterday. It wasn't something that was normal and, frankly, he didn't like it very much.

"And... b-before... I-I heard... F-Feliciano screaming in my dream..."

"I-I see..." Antonio softly said, almost choking out as he felt his own stomach churn from this. He didn't think that dreams such at this were plaguing the poor Italian into not being able to sleep well. Now that he heard it, he wished the Lovino had come to him sooner about this problem.

"Do... you know what it means...?" Lovino finally asked, falling silent afterwards. Antonio was silent for a long time, just looking down at the Italian. What could he say to make Lovino feel better and, hopefully, make those dreams go away?

"I'm sure it's just some weird dream from your past?" Antonio suggested, thinking that this was the only thing he could say besides the real reason. Lovino slightly looked up at Antonio before looking back down. That didn't make sense to him but he ended up nodding anyways.

Maybe Antonio was right. He remember his grandfather saying one time that, when someone forgets their past, it comes back to them in dreams in completely different ways than how it actually happened. Lovino went back to eating, making Antonio slightly smile as he looked around. After hearing this, something wasn't sitting right with him. Antonello had been gone since Lovino found them bickering. It was starting to make Antonio uncomfortable.

0-0-0

The day went on without much trouble. Lovino took it easy and just walked around the garden to help clear his head while Feliciano did the sermons. Lovino hoped that he would feel better tomorrow so he could give his brother a break from them. A light cover of snow was on the ground and, so, Lovino was in his long sleeve shirt, black pants, and a heavy jacket. It was almost dusk by the time Lovino walked back into the church feeling better than before. Feliciano and him had dinner and went to bed. Lovino had promised his brother he would do morning sermon in the morning. However, before Lovino went to bed, he went to the altar in the church and knelt down in front of it. He hadn't done this in awhile and felt like he needed to.

"Grandpa... It's Lovino..." he softly began, fingers laced together and forehead on his hands. "I know I haven't talked to you for awhile, but I haven't been well lately... I keep having this strange dream and it won't go away. I don't know what it means, but..." Lovino was silent for awhile before he started speaking again. "...I met an angel... I know when I was younger I said I didn't believe in them like you and Feliciano did, but I do now... he's helping me through things and says that my dreams are a way of making me remember my past..."

Lovino slightly looked up at the altar, wearing an expression of innocence and had an almost childish look to it. "You always told me that, sometimes, our minds retell our pasts to us if we have forgotten ours... I have..." Lovino looked back down. "I forgot the past and I really wish there was someway that I could get them back... Feliciano remembers almost all of it... so... why have I forgotten? Was the past really that horrible that I would want to forget it?" Lovino could feel water welling in his eyes, but he blinked them back.

"Why have I forgotten, grandpa?" Lovino asked, almost choking out the question. "Are these dreams a way to punish me for forgetting? Please... help me grandpa... please help me some way..." Lovino knelt in that position for a long time before feeling a large weight being lifted off his shoulders so suddenly. Maybe this was what he needed? To just be comforted by a prayer. Lovino let out a soft sigh of relief as he stood up and looked up at the angel on the top of the altar that was made out of marble.

A small smile appeared on Lovino's lips as he looked at it. He closed his eyes and uttered a soft thank you before walking off to bed. Antonio had been watching all of this and felt a small blush appear on his face as he saw Lovino with the most sincere smile in the world. The angel had _never_ seen Lovino smile like that before. Was it just a trick of the light? No. He knew it wasn't. Lovino truly had felt relief with this long prayer that he had uttered. Antonio shook his head, trying to shake away the hotness of his cheeks but it wouldn't disappear. His cheeks kept getting hotter and redder as the mere image of Lovino's smile kept appearing in his mind's eye.

_It... was so genuine..._ Antonio thought, staring out into space as he smiled at this. He couldn't help but think Lovino's smile was the cutest thing in the world. He gasped as he slapped his cheeks with his hands. Why did he just think something like that? He... He couldn't be in _love_ with Lovino, could he? Antonio shook his head before flying off. That couldn't be true. It just couldn't but the beating of his heart told him otherwise. No. He couldn't let himself fall in love. He couldn't.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This will probably be the last chapter I upload until after finals. ^^; I need to work on my essay final. But it won't be very long before I update again. Only two days of finals and then I'm done for the semester so~**

**I hope you guys are still enjoying this.**


	10. Chapter 9

Lovino woke up to the sight of Antonello hovering over him with a stern look on his face. The Italian's eyes widened a bit at suddenly seeing the devil there, feeling his face slowly turning a bit red at how close Antonello was.

"W-What are you doing!" Lovino screeched, pulling the blanket over him. Antonello said nothing for awhile until he stood back up straight.

"You sleep like a child…." He commented.

"So what!" Lovino didn't seem to take kindly to that being said to him. He knew he shouldn't really _care_ what someone thought of him, but he really couldn't help it. There was something about Antonello that he _really_ disliked but he couldn't pinpoint what it was at the moment. "What the hell do you care!"

Antonello stared at Lovino for a few moments before his lips slowly curled upwards into an amused smirk. "Oh…! Seems like you have a mouth on you!"

"Shut up!" Lovino snarled as he got up and walked off, not wanting to deal with Antonello anymore. The devil smirked as he followed. It was rare to see a priest with an attitude like Lovino's, so he might as well enjoy it while he could. "Stop following me!"

"No," Antonello replied rather bluntly. "I'm interested in what kinds of things you do." This caused Lovino to stop in his tracks and look over at Antonello skeptically.

"What does that mean?"

"It means what it sounds like."

"Which would be…?"

"What it sounds like," Antonello answered again, making Lovino even more frustrated than before. Lovino wished he could just get a straight answer out of someone for _once_ instead of all these riddles and answers he didn't understand. Lovino turned back around and continued walking until he came into the kitchen. He ate what his brother had out for him before getting changed and walking outside while he waited for the morning sermon to end.

Antonello continued to follow, feeling the need to tease the Italian at the moment, so he did. The devil took off the Italian's hat and flew up so Lovino couldn't get it back. The Italian glared at him.

"Give that back to me…" Lovino commanded, holding his hand out to the devil.

"No." Antonello stated bluntly asked twirled the hat around his finger. It was still a mystery on why Lovino wore something such as a hat in the first place. It didn't really seem like there was anything good about having it.

"Antonello!" Lovino was starting to lose his patience with the devil at the moment but Antonello didn't really seem to care all that much. He was too busy wondering why humans had hats in the first place. Before he even got very far in looking at the white hat, it suddenly vanished from his hand.

"What the-"

"H-Here you g-go Lovi…" Antonio softly said, handing the Italian his hat back. Lovino looked up at the, suddenly, shy angel before taking his hat and placing it back on his head.

"Thank you Antonio…." Lovino grumbled a bit as he started walking again, still pissed off at Antonello.

"Y-You're welcome…" Antonio blushed a bit at being thanked by Lovino and just hovered above the ground, watching Lovino walk off. Antonello looked over at his twin before looking back over at Lovino, smirking. He knew _exactly_ what was on Antonio's mind at the moment and he found it rather amusing that his brother had fallen in love with Lovino. Maybe he could use that to his advantage. The devil slowly flew up to Antonio and looked at his blushing face.

"Someone have a crush?" Antonello smirked. Antonio flinched a bit, shaking his head in disagreement.

"I-I do not!" Antonio protested, an even heavier red filling his cheeks at this. Antonello just smirked with amusement. This was all too much fun not to want to tease his brother, though he knew it wasn't really teasing as much as hitting the truth. Even someone like him knew that it was forbidden for being such as himself and Antonio to fall in love.

_He's trying to hide it because he knows what will happen if he falls in love…_ the devil thought before looking back at Lovino who had stopping in front of one of the flower beds that was covered with snow but still seem interested in looking at it. He also knew that a priest normally didn't fall in love either and kind of wondered if Lovino felt the same way about his brother. _This will be fun~_

Antonello flew off, leaving Antonio by himself. Antonio watched, blinking in confusion why his brother would just randomly fly off like that after teasing him like that. The angel shook his head and looked back over at Lovino, a blush still present on his cheeks.

_It's forbidden…_ Antonio told himself as he looked down at the ground with a slightly saddened look on his face. _I can't fall in love… I just can't… It's forbidden for us to fall in love with humans…_

Antonio flew off as well to think and calm himself down. He needed to clear his head if he was going forget about his feelings, though he knew it would be hard to do so. Feelings for people didn't just disappear like that. It was almost impossible for the most part. If he had to, he would ask for someone to change spots with him to take care of Lovino for a little while. Though the very thought of that made Antonio's heart clench, making a few tears fall from his eyes.

The angel stopped and touched his face, feeling the wetness on it. Was he really that much in love with Lovino that he couldn't even bare to be away from him? Antonio sighed as he sat on the roof of the church, wings furled around him slightly to keep him warm. He placed a hand on his heart and took deep breaths to keep it from pounding. What was he going to do?

0-0-0

After afternoon sermon, Lovino and Feliciano closed up the church for the rest of the day and got dressed into some regular clothes, boots, jackets, gloves, etcetera before heading out onto the snow covered street. Antonio noticed this and started to follow high up in the air so Lovino wouldn't notice him following them. He wondered where the two were going at this hour before he stopped, seeing a cemetery in front of them.

_Why are… oh…_ Antonio looked down as he realized why they were going to the cemetery. They were probably visiting their family there. Antonio stayed where he was though, not wanting to even go anywhere near a cemetery.

"Ve….." Feliciano softly started, holding his brother's arm as he looked around. "I-It's still scary being here…" Lovino nodded in agreement. It scared him more than usual today because of the dreams he had been having but ignored it as the two came up to three graves that were next to each other. Lovino set down the flowers in his hand, a few on each grave before returning to his spot next to his brother. The two looked at the graves before they started to pray. Even though it was cold they were still committed to visiting and praying at their family's graves.

As Lovino opened his eyes, an image flashed before him, which made him freeze and back up a bit. He was seeing things, right? It wasn't real, right? Before his eyes was the ghostly image of his grandfather standing there, staring at the two. Lovino took another step back before clenching his eyes shut and shaking his head. As he slowly opened his eyes, the figure was gone and nowhere to be seen.

"F-Fratello…?" Feliciano shakily asked as he saw his brother's face. "I-Is something wrong?" Lovino blinked a few times before looking over at Feliciano.

"I-I'm fine…. Don't worry about it Feliciano…" Lovino softly replied as he turned and started walking away, not wanting to see if something else was going to happen if he tried to stay there. Feliciano blinked in confusion before following after his brother, starting to get even _more_ worried about Lovino than he had been before.

Feliciano may not have been the smartest person someone would meet, but when it came to people close to him he was able to tell when something was wrong even though someone said they were fine. Feliciano softly sighed, remembering a friend from his childhood that he hadn't seen since the boy left somewhere. Feliciano knew when the boy was lying but tried to ignore it but after he left, the Italian never got any letters from him even though he had promised to write to him.

"Fratello…." Feliciano softly said, looking down at the ground as he walked behind his brother before stopping. Lovino stopped and slightly turned towards his brother.

"What is it Feliciano…?"

"Well… A-Are you sure you're okay? I mean… you haven't been getting a lot of sleep because of those nightmares and you insist on helping with the sermons… but… e-even though you look out for me… you never look out for yourself and you don't let me worry about you much…" Feliciano slightly looked up at his brother's slightly confused yet shocked face. "I-I really worry about you!" Tears started to flow down Feliciano's face as he continued. "I-I don't want anything t-to happen to you! I… I don't want… t-to lose any more family o-or friends…!"

Lovino stood there, shocked and unsure of what to say. He knew his brother worried about him, but when he said he was fine his brother would normally just accept it. However, now, seeing his brother crying because he's really worried about him surprised him more than he would have thought.

"F…Feliciano…."

Feliciano shakily took his brother's hand, holding it against his own cheek. "P-Pwease f-fwatello…" His voice was shaking heavily as he spoke, more tears erupting from his eyes. "L…Let… m-me… t-take cawe of you…."

Lovino just stared at his blubbering brother, saying nothing. He was trying hard not to cry himself at the sight. He hadn't seen Feliciano cry this badly since he found out their grandfather was dead.

"Feliciano… I…" Lovino started before collapsing to the cold, wet ground.

"LOVINO!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I am SO sorry this is just now getting out! So much stuff happened and so I didn't have much time to write. My father had to go to the hospital for two days and then my old computer died and I didn't get one until a few days again.. so...**

**I will be writing as much as I can before I go back to school...**

**Anyways, I know it's not very long but this is what I wanted for this chapter.****  
><strong>


	11. Chapter 10

Lovino's chocolate honey eyes slowly opened to find himself in his room. He slightly moved before cringing as he felt that his body was slightly numb. He groaned, realizing that he had passed out again but this time in the snow.

"Lovi…?"

Lovino blinked as he tried to get his vision less foggy and looked over at the voice that had spoken. Sitting in a chair next to his bed was Antonio with a worried look on his face. "A…Antonio…." He softly said before hearing the door open. He slightly sat up and saw Feliciano walk in with a shaky smile.

"C-Ciao F-Fratello…" Feliciano softly greeted, his voice shaking along with the cup in his hand and making the water in it slip out of the edges.

"Ciao…." Lovino softly said as Feliciano handed him the glass. Lovino took it before slowly sipping it. That's when he noticed Feliciano looking over at Antonio.

"W-Would you like anything A-Antonio…?" Feliciano asked. Antonio shook his head, smiling a bit.

"No thank you Feliciano. I appreciate the offer though." Feliciano nodded as he hurriedly walked out of the room. Lovino was going to say something to his younger brother, but Feliciano was already out the door before he could even speak. He softly sighed, wondering why Feliciano was shaking and stuttering so much. He shook his head before looking over at Antonio.

"W-What's going on?" Lovino hissed in almost a whisper. "I-I thought you said only _I_ could see you!" Antonio slightly blushed at this commented before looking down, fumbling with his thumbs.

"Ah… w-well…. You see…" the angel started to stutter a bit. "…a-about once or twice a year we can use our powers to change human for a while…. When I saw Feliciano having trouble trying to get you back here, I changed so I could help…" Antonio's blush became deeper than it had been.

Lovino stared at Antonio, not seeming to believe what he was seeing but, at the same time, also knew that it had to be true if his little brother could see him. Lovino looked down into his half full glass. Antonio became human to help him? The Italian couldn't help but blush a bit at that. He lifted the glass back up to his lips and started drinking again, not even looking at Antonio. The two sat there in silence for a long time before Lovino set his empty glass down and, ever so slightly, looked over at Antonio.

"…How long are you going to be like that…?" he asked Antonio.

"I don't know… a week at the earliest… a month at the latest…" Antonio replied, still looking down at his fumbling thumbs.

"I see…. W-Well…. Thank you…." Antonio looked up at Lovino as he said that, blushing a darker hue of red as he heard the sincere words coming from Lovino's mouth even though the Italian wasn't looking directly at him.

"Y-You're welcome Lovi." Antonio couldn't help but feeling happy at the fact Lovino would thank him like that. It really did make him feel happier than he ever felt in his life. Antonio stood up, smiling. "You should get some rest Lovi~ I'm sure you'll feel better in the morning~"

"O-Okay…." Lovino replied, looking up and blushing more as he saw the smile Antonio was giving. With a small wave to Lovino, Antonio walked out of the room. Lovino softly sighed as he laid back down, staring at the ceiling. He wondered why his heart was racing like that. It was a conflicting emotion that he was feeling at the moment and he couldn't understand it well. He didn't even know the reason why his heart was beating this fast and why his face was heating up when he saw Antonio smiling like that, but he knew that it made him happy for some reason. Lovino felt his face heat up more before he pulled the blanket over his head, closing his eyes. He really didn't understand this feeling at all.

0-0-0

Mid-morning the next day, Lovino stared at his brother with confusion as Feliciano gave a happy smile to him.

"Why can't I help?" the older Italian asked, a bit annoyed by the fact that his _little_ brother had told him to relax and not do any sermons. "I'm fine." Feliciano frowned, pouting and folding his arms at his brother's comment.

"That's what you said yesterday and then you collapsed..!" the younger Italian protested rather bluntly. "I told you that I want you to relax because you're stressing yourself out somehow and you haven't been sleeping well. So I want you to just relax. If you have a problem with that then you can go walk around town with Antonio."

Lovino stared at his brother with surprise. He didn't think his brother would sound so forceful when it came to his health but only ended up nodding in reply. Maybe his brother was right. Maybe he needed to just relax and take his mind off of everything. Feliciano smiled before nodding back and walking out to the church to get ready for afternoon sermon. Lovino softly sighed, looking down.

"H-Hey Lovi…?" Antonio softly asked, looking towards the Italian. Lovino looked up at Antonio.

"What…?"

"Can… we go walk around town?"

"Why…?"

"W-Well… I want to see everything like this instead of flying over everything." Antonio smiled at Lovino who softly sighed.

"Fine… I guess…." Antonio smiled before putting on the temporary coat that Lovino and Feliciano were letting him borrow while he was here. Lovino put on his jacket and shoes before he was pulled out of the church by a giddy Antonio. Lovino's cheeks became dusted with a soft pink color as he looked down at Antonio holding his hand.

_W…Why the hell am I blushing!_ Lovino yelled at himself in thought before slightly looking back up and looking at Antonio with a happy look on his face. It made Lovino wonder if Antonio wanted to be human or not at this point, but that's what he thought by seeing the look on the angel's face.

"Lovi~ Lovi~" Antonio chimed happily as he looked at the Italian. Lovino blinked as he looked up at him.

"W-What…?" Lovino asked in a slight mumble, trying to keep a stern look to his face. Antonio pointed at a small shop that sold small trinkets and other small items.

"Can we go look at those~? Please~?"

"W-Whatever…." Antonio smiled even brighter as he released Lovino and ran over to the small shop. Lovino couldn't help but smile a bit, wanting to laugh at Antonio's childish behavior. He then shook his head, slapping the sides of his face and sighing. Lovino hadn't had any fun since he was a child, so it was weird to him again.

Lovino stood there for a few minutes before walking into the shop where he saw Antonio memorized by all the trinkets in the room. Even though the shop wasn't very big it was stuffed full with a lot of different items. Antonio looked at _everything_ in the room before walking over to Lovino and holding out a small glass turtle.

"Look at this Lovi~" Antonio chimed with a childlike glimmer to his face. "Isn't it pretty~?"

"I-I guess so…." Lovino replied, trying not to blush even though he was ever so slightly. Antonio chuckled as he looked back down at the green and white glass turtle.

"It's called a turtle if I remember right~ It's so pretty~" Lovino looked at Antonio, swearing that he could see the angel's eyes sparkling with amazement as he looked at the glistening glass in his hands. Lovino looked down before looking back up at Antonio.

"D-Do you want it…?"

"Hm? W-Want it…?"

Lovino nodded. "Si… do you want it?" Antonio nodded a bit hesitantly at this, not really understanding why Lovino was asking him that question. Lovino nodded back before carefully taking the small glass turtle from Antonio's hands and walked up to the owner. Antonio stared at the Italian before finally registering why Lovino had asked that.

"Y-You don't have to-"

"I know I don't…" Lovino interrupted as he took the bag the woman had placed the box with the turtle inside before walking back over to Antonio and handing it to him. "But I will… s-so you b-better appreciate it…" Lovino could feel the heat rising on his cheeks as he spoke this. Antonio looked down at the bag before looking up at Lovino, feeling his own cheeks heat up.

"I-I do Lovi~ Thank you so much~" Antonio held the package close to him. "I really appreciate this and I'll always treasure it." Lovino felt his entire face flare before he turned around and started walking out.

"G-Good…" the Italian mumbled, walking down the street. Antonio happily followed after, feeling as though he was floating again even though he wasn't. The angel wondered what this feeling was that he was experiencing while in this body, but didn't care since he liked the feeling.

Lovino and Antonio continued to walk through town, stopping at a few shops so Antonio could see what was in them. A few times Lovino bought some food for them to eat when Antonio thought it looked really good, though the angel couldn't look at the meat that was being cooked since angels weren't meant to eat them like humans were. Even some of the townspeople greeted them as though it was perfectly normal to see, which made Lovino a bit embarrassed to know Antonio in the first place since the angel would go up and kind of hug almost every person that greeted them. Lovino really couldn't understand by the end of the day why he was being so nice to Antonio. Heck! He wasn't even this nice to his brother most of the time so it actually scared him a bit. However, whenever he saw Antonio's cheerful face he couldn't _help_ being nice to him. Lovino sighed a bit, a puff of breath being seen as he did so but then shrugged. Antonio would only be like this for a little while, so he could deal with it for the time being and, even though he wouldn't admit it; this little trip with Antonio was actually relaxing him more than he ever could have imagined it would.

_Strange…_ Lovino thought as he waited outside of a shop for Antonio to come back out. _How can I feel so relaxed when Antonio's kind of a handful? It's kind of weird but… maybe this was what I needed… just a night on the town with a friend…?_

Lovino felt a churn in his stomach when he thought that last word. 'Friend' sounded too far away from what he really felt, or at least to him. Lovino shook his head before looking over at Antonio was he walked out of the shop with the only bag he had gotten throughout the entire trip.

"Let's go back to the church Lovi~" the angel chimed with a beaming smile. "It's getting cold~" Lovino nodded as he started following Antonio back to the church, hands in his coat pockets so they wouldn't get cold. The two were silent the entire way though, both of them pretty exhausted from the whole trip in general. As the two got closer and closer, the faint scent of food could be smelled coming from the church.

_Seems like Feliciano's cooking…_ Lovino obviously stated in his mind as the two walked into the back entrance of the church, taking their shoes off at the door once inside.

"Aw~ Feliciano must be cooking~" Antonio chimed as he, carefully, set down the bag in his hand before removing his coat and handing it up. Lovino just nodded in agreement as he took off his coat as well and hung it up before walking towards the kitchen, Antonio in tow with the bag once again in his hand.

"Ve~ Welcome back you two~" Feliciano chimed happily as he looked over at Antonio and Lovino as they walked into the kitchen. "Enjoy your day out~?"

"Very much~" Antonio replied cheerfully as he sat down at the table. "It was nice to see the town and everyone is so nice~" Feliciano slightly laughed at this as he started setting plates on the table.

"I see~ I'm glad you had fun~" Feliciano set down a plate of food in front of Antonio, making the angel flinch a bit as he saw the chicken meat cut up into the alfredo and making Antonio looked away from it. "Ve? Is something wrong Antonio?"

"Ah… w-well…." Antonio started saying, not wanting to be rude in declining the food.

"He's a vegetarian Feliciano…" Lovino interrupted as he looked up at his brother.

"O-Oh… I see…" Feliciano nervously laughed as he picked the plate up before setting the plate he had started making in front of Antonio. "There~ That one doesn't have any on it~" Feliciano then took his seat with the plate he now had and started eating, along with Lovino. Antonio smiled a bit at Lovino as a thanks before he started eating his alfredo as well.

The three sat in silence the entire time that they ate. Once all of them were done, Antonio was given their grandfather's room to sleep in but he refused. Antonio knew how important that room was to the two since it was their grandfather's so he just said he'd sleep on the floor in Lovino's room. Even though Lovino didn't really like the idea, he agreed anyways and Antonio was given an extra mattress to sleep on and some blankets and a pillow.

"I don't know why you couldn't just sleep in our grandpa's room…." Lovino stated as he laid down in his bed.

"I didn't want to ruin anything," Antonio replied softly. "I know your grandfather meant a lot to you to so…."

"Oh…." Lovino softly sighed as he closed his eyes. "You still didn't have to though…."

"I know, but I wanted to. I don't really care where I sleep."

"Oh…." Lovino yawned before curling up a bit and falling asleep. Antonio smiled, looking up at Lovino's sleeping face.

_I wonder if Lovi thinks of me as at least a friend…_ Antonio asked himself in thought as he closed his eyes. _If he does… then that would make me really happy…_

Antonio softly chuckled at this, knowing that would probably never happen. Lovino didn't really seem to be the one that would want to have a friend at this point in his life. With those final thoughts in his mind, Antonio drifted off to sleep in hopes to get up early in the morning.

0-0-0

_Lovino's eyes were filled with tears as he looked upon the body in front of him, the one that was hanging there. It couldn't be true. What he was seeing wasn't real, right? He really hoped it wasn't. The voices, once again, swirled around him and made his body cold. The echo of his brother's screams still filled his mind._

"_W…What… is this…?"_


	12. Chapter 11

Antonio softly groaned, emerald green eyes slowly opening as he heard tossing and turning in the bed next to him. The angel sat up and looked over at Lovino who was covered in sweat and tears flowing from the Italian's eyes, along with soft whimpering and heavy breathing. Antonio quickly got up and started shaking Lovino.

"Lovi! Wake up!" he softly yelled, not wanting to wake Feliciano up in the process. Lovino didn't wake though. Under his touch, Antonio could feel Lovino starting to shake and turn cold. The angel paled a bit at this before pulling the covers off and picking Lovino up. "Forgive me for this Lovi…" Antonio ran into the bathroom and set Lovino into the tub before pulling the curtain back and turning the shower on.

"CHIGII!" Lovino screeched as the hot water was turned on. The minute Antonio heard Lovino he turned off the water before pulling the curtain back again.

"You okay Lovi…?"

Lovino shook some of the water from his hair before looking up at Antonio with a stern look on his face. "W-What the hell was that for!"

Antonio slightly flinched at this, looking down at the floor. "I-I'm sorry Lovi… You seemed like you were in pain and when I tried to shake you awake you didn't wake up s-so… t-this was the only thing I could think of to wake you up."

Lovino slightly looked down, feeling a bit bad that he yelled at Antonio like that. Only a little though. The Italian didn't exactly like the fact that he was soaking wet, especially when it was cold out. Antonio let out a soft yet sad laugh.

"I-I'm sorry Lovi…" the angel apologized as he stood up and out a towel. "I-I guess I messed up…." Antonio gently wrapped the towel around the Italian as he stood up. "I-I'll go put clean sheets on your bed…" With that being said, Antonio quickly left the bathroom, leaving Lovino by himself. Lovino stared at the door before sighing, looking down.

_Maybe… it really is my fault that people tend to hate me…_ the Italian commented in thought before taking off his pajamas and pulling on an extra pair they had just in case.

"He's way too sensitive…"

"What the hell do _you_ want Antonello!" Lovino growled as he turned and looked at the devil, who was leisurely floating there as if he owned the place.

"Nothing really, just making a comment…" Antonello replied as he looked at Lovino as though he was completely bored out of his mind. "My idiotic brother is just annoying."

"That's your opinion…" Lovino turned back around and walked out of the room. Antonello rolled his eyes as he followed the Italian to the room where only the beds were covered with sheets. Antonio was nowhere to be seen at all. Antonello snorted.

"I told you, Antonio's too sensitive."

"And I told you to shut your fucking mouth bastard!" Lovino yelled as he turned and glared at Antonello, taking the devil off guard by this sudden outburst. "Get the fuck out of here! I don't even know why you're here in the first place!" Lovino ran out of the room and down towards the church.

…_so… he really doesn't remember…_ Antonello commented in thought as he floated there in the room by himself. He smirked again, a dark look appearing over his features as he looked down at his claw like hands.

"This will be even more fun than I thought," he stated, a light chuckle escaping his mouth. "The idiot is completely clueless to the kinds of things I can do… and now I know one more fact that he doesn't." Antonello's hands slowly closed into fists as he flew off by himself.

Lovino panted as he looked around, trying to find Antonio before spotting the angel outside. Antonio was just sitting on the steps in front of the church. Luckily, Lovino had placed his jacket and boots on before he even went looking around outside. As he watched Antonio from a distance, he could see that the angel was talking with the pigeons and snow bunnies that had gathered around him, even though he couldn't hear what he was saying.

"Antonio….." he softly said, the only light that made things visible was the full moon. The angel slightly flinched before looking over at Lovino.

"O-Oh… Lovi…." he softly said, rubbing the tears from his eyes. Lovino sighed as he walked over and sat down next to him.

"Why are you out here….?"

"N-No reason…."

"You're bad at lying you know Antonio…." Lovino stated before sighing and looking down. "You don't have to be so upset…" Antonio looked down before picking up one of the bunnies in front of him, setting it on his lap and petting it.

"….Sorry…." Antonio softly apologized.

"And stop apologizing… you didn't do anything wrong…" Antonio nodded, watching the small rabbit hop out of his lap and hop off with the others. Lovino watched them as well before glancing at Antonio again. "Come back inside, si? It's cold out here and we should go back to sleep…." The Italian blushed a bit. "T-Thank you… for helping me, okay?"

Antonio looked over at Lovino, cheeks heating up at the comment. "Really? You really mean that Lovi?"

"Si… I do…" Antonio felt a smile form on his face before he hugged the Italian, rubbing his cheek against his.

"Aw~ Thank you Lovi~ That makes me really happy to know you do~" Lovino's cheeks went redder before he pushed Antonio off of him.

"D-Don't hug me!" Antonio couldn't help but laugh at this as he stood up with Lovino.

"Okay~" Lovino nodded and the two returned inside before going back to bed. Antonio snuggled against his pillow, closing his eyes. He was really happy that Lovino had actually thanked him. With a soft giggle into the pillow, Antonio fell asleep.

0-0-0

It wasn't long that Lovino was asleep before hearing something. The Italian softly groaned before sitting up in his bed, looking around. He didn't know _how_ long he had been asleep, but he knew that it was still late at night. Lovino glanced over at Antonio who was still sleeping soundly and he could hear his little brother through the wall sleeping as well. So he wondered what it could be that was making such a noise. The Italian slipped out of his bed as quietly as he could before opening the door and looking in the hall. No one. The halls were completely empty but he could still hear the noise coming from the church, so that's where he went.

As he slowly opened the door, the inside of the church looked the same as it always did but the sound was still there. He wondered why that was. Lovino softly sighed as he walked in, looking around.

"Hello!" he yelled, hoping to get an answer.

"_Ciao… Lovino…."_ Lovino froze as he heard this, eyes wide. He recognized that voice all too well, which made it even harder for him to look in the direction that it was coming from. Lovino gulped down a large lump his throat before his eyes fell on the figure but it was all just a horror he didn't want to see. Floating there was the ghostly figure of his grandfather, though he was the same as when Lovino saw him dead. Eyes gorged out of their sockets and the sockets stretched a cut. Not only that, but his grandfather's body had a few limps dangling from just a few strands of flesh.

"N…No…n….no…." Lovino choked out, wanting to puke as his back was pressed against the church altar.

"_Lovino…._" The figure called again. Lovino clenched his eyes shut and shook his head. It was just a dream. He had to tell himself it was just a dream in order to keep himself sane. As his eyes slowly opened again, the sight before him was too hard to even comprehend at the moment. Blood was trickling from the eye sockets and dangling limbs, making the Italian's body shake uncontrollably.

Flash backs to his dreams appeared through his head, making the experience even harder to bare. That's when another voice came from a distance, making Lovino's head shakily turn to the side and, there, was his mother who was heavily cut and her eye sockets were missing as well.

"_Lovino…_" she said, moving closer. "_Why… did you let… me die…?_" Lovino felt his blood run cold as he saw his mother getting closer and closer to him. He couldn't speak, words caught in his throat. It was too much for him. His dreams were becoming all too real at the moment and it scared him.

"_Lovino…._" his mother and grandfather called in unison. Tears sprang from Lovino's eyes as he watched them getting closer and closer to him before he couldn't take it anymore, letting out a horrifying scream that echoed throughout the entire church.

Feliciano and Antonio appeared within a matter of minutes before seeing Lovino curled up on the ground, nails digging into the concrete floor.

"Fratello!" Feliciano screamed as he ran over to his brother and knelt down next to him. "F-Fratello…!" Feliciano could see the blood starting to seep from Lovino's finger nails as he continued to try and scratch at the ground below him. The younger Italian immediately took his brother's hands and held them, not wanting Lovino to hurt himself anymore.

"Lovi…." Antonio softly said as he looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary before he gently lifted the Italian up and took him back to his room. Feliciano ran off to get the medical kit. Once he returned he started to wrap his brother's hands and fingers.

"…seems like he's calmed down…" Antonio commented after a long silence that lingered in the air.

"S-Si…" Feliciano shakily replied, tying the bandage before starting on his brother's other hand. He slightly choked up, holding back the sobs that wanted to escape from his throat. Antonio looked over at Feliciano with a saddened look before looking back down at Lovino who was fast asleep.

"Feliciano… would you think me rude if I suggested that you and Lovi take a vacation for a few weeks?"

"V-Ve…?" Feliciano finished tying the other bandage before glancing at Antonio. "V…Vacation…?" Antonio nodded.

"Yes… It might do Lovi some good to get away and not worry about anything at all… you know?" Feliciano sniffled, looking down at his brother and rubbing his tear filled eyes.

"Y-You t-think… i-it'll help…?"

"I do…" Feliciano nodded, feeling his tears roll down his cheeks.

"T-Then… I-I'll take Fratello on v-vacation…" Feliciano softly replied, rubbing his eyes again. Antonio looked over at the Italian before moving over and hugging him.

"I'm sure Lovino will be fine… so please stop crying, okay?" Antonio softly asked, rubbing Feliciano's back to calm him down. Feliciano only ended up crying even more, hugging Antonio back as he sobbed into the angel's shoulder. He just wanted his brother to be better again so he could stop worrying about him. Feliciano didn't want his brother to die and leave him all alone.

"I-I w-want… m-my f-fratello back…!"

"I know… Why don't you go get some sleep, okay? I'll help you guys pack tomorrow." Feliciano slightly pulled away, nodding and rubbing his eyes. Feliciano shakily stood up before walking back to his room, closing the door. Once Antonio knew Feliciano couldn't hear him, the angel quickly sneaked out of the church and looked around outside.

"ANTONELLO!" he called as loudly as he could without waking anyone up.

"What?" Antonello asked as he appeared in front of his brother with a smirk on his face.

"What did you do to Lovi!"

"Heh… he didn't like the gift I gave him?"

"What did you do!"

Antonello laughed as his expression became dark again. "I only gave him what he wanted most… to see his family again…" Antonio's eyes widened as he heard this.

"Y-You don't mean you…?" Antonio found it hard to even speak at this point. He was so exasperated by what he had just heard that his words got caught in his throat.

"Yes… I brought their ghosts to him in the forms that they died in." the devil laughed at this as he flew up a bit higher. "You've always been the kinder twin and it really pisses me off…"

"O-of course! I-I'm an angel!" Antonio commented, which made Antonello snort in derision. "W-What's so funny..?"

"I guess that it's true that angels' memories are erased when they become one," Antonello commented sourly.

"W…What do you mean…?"

"Figure it out yourself! I'm tired of trying to explain everything to someone as stupid as yourself! Figure it out Antonio Fernandez Carriedo!"

"A-Antonello! W-What are you talking about!" Antonio wanted to know what the meaning of the last name he was just given though, at the same time, it sounded so familiar. Without another word, Antonello flew off and leaving Antonio standing there confused and not knowing what to do.

_What's going on..?_ Antonio asked himself as he watched his twin vanish from sight. _W-What does he mean by 'angels really do lose their memeories'..?_

Antonio looked down at the snow covered ground as soft flakes floated down on top of the old. All of this didn't make any sense anymore. Did being able to turn human have something to do with that? Antonio fell to his knees, his emerald green eyes still wide. Was there something god wasn't telling him? Antonio shakily looked up towards the slightly lighter night sky.

"God… tell me what he means…" the angel softly begged, knowing he wouldn't get an answer. Antonio knew he would have to contact him when he was an angel again and had his magic back. He took out the small compact mirror in his pocket and looked at it. "God… I'm so confused… please tell me what's going on…"

With nothing else being said, Antonio walked back into the church and sat in one of the seats. He looked up at the altar in front of him, eyes looking a bit worn out and tired. If only he could understand the meaning behind his brother's words then he could understand everything a lot more. With those final thoughts, Antonio fell to his side and fell asleep with the mirror still in his hands. The angel knew it wouldn't be long before he was woken up by someone but also knew he needed sleep to forget at the moment. Forget what he had heard and forget that he wasn't actually human.

Soon, twilight was gone and the sky became lighter. Lighter than it seemed to have been in a long, _long_ time.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **rubs hands together** The plot thickens MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!**

**XD Another chapter out~ X3**

**And let me say, thank you for all my new and old lovely subscribers and readers~ ;D**


	13. Chapter 12

"You sure?" Feliciano asked as he looked up at Antonio with a slightly hurt expression. Antonio nodded with a small smile on his face.

"Yes… I have to get back home soon so I'll let you two enjoy your time on vacation together," Antonio replied. "I have to get back to my own family after all." Feliciano nodded, slightly smiling as he took his brother's hand.

"C-Ciao Antonio. Hope to see you again."

"Same." Antonio waved as Feliciano and Lovino walked off before softly sighing and looking down at the ground. He didn't know what to do anymore in this form. He could've gone with Feliciano and Lovino, but he didn't know if he would turn back into his angel form or not while there so he played it safe.

"Isn't that sweet?" Antonello mocked as he landed next to Antonio, arms crossed and a smirk on his face before it turned into a frown. "Makes me want to puke."

"Don't you have anything better to do besides bugging me or Lovi?" Antonio asked as he turned towards his brother with a slightly angry look on his face. "Don't you think you've hurt Lovi enough by being here? You should just give up on trying to take his-"

"You know damn well that I can't do that!" Antonello yelled as he slammed Antonio against the wall, making the breath from his lungs push out. "You're always so carefree and it pisses me off! I think _I'm_ the one who understands Lovino more than you do!"

"W…Wh…" Antonio coughed, trying to get air back into his lungs. It was hard though since Antonello was holding onto his throat.

"Figure it out!" Antonello yelled before released Antonio and flying off. Antonio fell to his knees, coughing and gently rubbing his sore throat. He could feel the claw marks on his neck as he gently grazed over it. Antonio swallowed a bit hard before shakily walking back into the church. He leaned against the door once it was closed before sliding to the ground. If only he could change back at the moment then he could contact god and ask about what Antonello had told him. Antonio just didn't know what was going on anymore, and he hated it.

0-0-0

A week passed and Antonio was back as an angel again. He looked up at the twilight sky before looking back down at the mirror in his hand. He softly sighed.

"Can I speak with you?" he asked. The mirror slightly flashed before the distorted face was shown again.

"_What is it Antonio?_" the man asked. The tone in his voice wasn't mean nor was it nice either. It was more concerned than anything since Antonio's voice sounded a bit hallow and sad.

"Well… it's concerning something my brother said… He said that I don't remember anything. I was wondering what he meant by that…"

"….he said that…?"

"Yes…"

"I see…" the man sighed. "I was afraid something like this was going to happen."

"Huh?" Antonio was confused by this statement. "W-What do you mean? I-Is what he said true?"

"…Yes… Antonio… You have to promise me that you'll tell no one else what I'm about to tell you." Antonio nodded in reply, waiting for him to continue. "What he said is true. Angels are meant to lose their memories of their past so they don't have to worry about things they feel that they left undone. Everything you've learned about being an angel… well… it's mostly a lie." Antonio slightly froze in place as he heard this, not knowing what to say. Out of everything he had learned, he was now even more confused than before. He couldn't believe that his brother had been right the whole time.

"A…And… does being able to turn human… have anything to do with that…?" Antonio finally asked softly after a long silence.

"Yes…"

"I-I see…." Antonio felt like he was going to be sick. Having all of this being kept from him was hard to believe. "…then… why do angels lose their memories and devils don't?"

"Angels lose them so they can feel like they're free while devils are meant to be tortured by their past life for the wrong deeds that they had done."

Antonio swallowed a large lump in his throat, scared to ask his next question. He slightly shook his head before looking back at the mirror he had turned away from. "And… what was Antonello's wrong deed?"

"Do you really want to know?" the man asked. Antonio sat there, saying and doing nothing before slowly nodding in reply. The man softly sighed again. "Alright… Antonello's wrong deed was killing his twin brother… which means you Antonio." Antonio felt his entire body run cold as he heard this. His own brother killed him? What had he done for something like that to happen?

"…am… I allowed to get my memories back…?"

"…you can but you'll have to relive all of them which could take a while to complete."

"How long…?"

"At most?" Antonio nodded in reply. "Well… at the least a month and the most would be a year…"

"…do I have to relive all of my memories?"

"Unfortunately yes…" Antonio shakily sighed.

"I-I want to think about it then…."

"Alright… call me back when you've made up your mind." Antonio nodded, placing the mirror back into his robe once the image had disappeared. The angel just couldn't believe anything that he had just heard. He wanted to know so badly what was going on, but he didn't want to leave Lovino to have those nightmares without someone there. Not only that, he didn't know if Antonello would leave Lovino alone long enough for him to relive his memories.

A few tears escaped from Antonio's eyes as he curled up, wings wrapping around him. He didn't know what to do at all and it pained him more than anything right now. What should he do? He wanted to know so he could understand his brother more but, at the same time, he didn't want to know since he didn't want to relive the day that he died. Antonio wondered if he had done something for his brother to have wanted to kill him so easily. The angel sighed as he pressed his face farther into his knees.

_What should I do..?_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**^^; I know this chapter is kind of short, but I wanted it to be like that. I'm going to try and make the next chapter UBER long for you guys~ x3 I have yet to write a really long chapter! XD**

**Hope you enjoy~**


	14. Chapter 13

"Are you sure about this Antonio? Once you start reliving your live you won't even remember you're an angel until it's over." Antonio nodded as he looked down at the mirror. He was still scared about what would happen if he did this, but he really needed to know. "Alright… I'll send you to a certain point in time and, after that, everything from before will come back to you… now then, set the mirror down in front of you." Antonio nodded again as he did what he was told. "Now, kneel down and place your hands over it." Antonio did so.

Within a few minutes, the mirror started to produce a bright light before engulfing Antonio into it. The last thing Antonio heard was the sound of running footsteps before he blacked out.

0-0-0

Antonio's emerald green eyes slowly opened as he looked around the small room that he was in. The place was only big enough to have a bed and a nightstand for furniture and only a closet door and a regular door were present. He slowly sat up, looking around before seeing the door open.

"How long do you plan to sleep Antonio!" a young boy with slightly messy, dark brown hair asked as he stood in the doorway. A playful smile was on the boy's face as his dark emerald green eyes stared at Antonio.

"Oh… S-Sorry Antonello…." Antonio apologized softly as he rubbed his eyes. Antonello softy laughed as he walked up to his brother's bed.

"It's okay~ Not like I really care. Just making a comment and it's not that bad since I know your heart is weak anyways." Antonio slightly blushed at this as he slowly slid out of the bed.

"O-Okay…." Antonello laughed as he walked out of the room, Antonio following behind. Antonio looked around, not seeing anyone around. "W-Where's papa and mama?"

"They went to work," Antonello replied as he sat down at the table where two plates with piping food sat. Antonio walked over and sat down in the chair across from his brother. The two of them were no more than 7 years old and both of them knew that their parents were always busy with work to support them. Of course, Antonio was mainly the reason that they worked so hard.

"Hey, Antonio~" Antonello finally said after a long silence that lingered between the two. "Want to come with me somewhere today~?" Antonio looked up at his brother, fork in his mouth. He pulled it out and chewed before talking.

"You want me to come somewhere with you?" he asked, feeling a bit happy that his brother would ask him. The two brothers weren't very close when it came to doing things together a lot, but that was mainly because of Antonio's heart problem and it caused him to have to stay in the house or at the hospital a lot.

"Sure~ We haven't done anything together in a while~ It'll be fun~"

"Si~ I'd love to come with you hermano~" Antonio smiled happily as he continued to eat. He was excited that his brother wanted to do something fun with him after weeks. Of course, Antonio knew that he had been on bed rest the last few weeks but he was still happy about it.

Once the two had finished eating, they got dressed and headed out. The town that they lived in was a rather populated place, but it was also filled with people who seemed to not like helping others out when they are in trouble. No one really knows that reason for that but it also makes others cautious since there are a lot of robbers and kidnappers around. Antonio looked around with a happy smile on his face.

_It's been so long since I've been out here~_ the young Spanish boy commented in thought. He looked over at his twin brother and smiled even brighter. He was happier than he ever could be at this point.

"Hey, Antonello~?" Antonio softly asked, causing his brother to look over at him.

"Si?"

"Mama and papa are off work tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Do you think they'd take me to the beach too?"

"How should I know?" Antonello asked with confusion clear on his face before smiling. "I'm sure if nothing happens to you between now and then, then maybe they will." Antonio smiled a bit shyly at this.

"I'll try not to let anything happen then~" he chimed as the two continued walking. The farther the two got, the less dense the population of the people became and the easier it was for the two walk down the street without having to weave through the crowds. Eventually, Antonio and Antonello were at a distance where the streets were clear of people.

"Um… Antonello…" Antonio softly said as he tugged at his brother's sleeve. "W-Where exactly are we going?"

"You'll see…" Antonello replied as he took his brother's hand and continued to walk. Antonio nervously looked around, getting a bad feeling from the area that they were walking around. It wasn't long before the two emerged and they were in a large meadow, making Antonio's eyes grow wide at the sight.

The meadow had a pleather of different colored flowers as far as the eye could see. Antonello smirked as he looked over at his brother.

"Like it~?" he asked before smiling. Antonio couldn't help but stare for a long while before looking at his brother and hugging him.

"Si. A lot, a lot!" Antonio released his brother and jogged into the field before kneeling down and picking a few. Most of them were carnations, which were Antonio's and Antonello's favorite flowers. Antonello joined his brother and knelt down as well, glad to know he could make his twin happy after weeks of being bed ridden.

"Gracias Antonello~" Antonio thanked after a long silence between the two. "This is really amazing and it's really pretty~" Antonello hugged his brother before patting his head.

"I'm glad. You deserve a little bit of spoiling every now and then with the condition you're in~" Antonio laughed at this as he hugged his brother back before he returned to picking more and more of the carnations that were around.

"I'm going to press some of these into my journal."

"Really?"

"Si~ and then write about how amazing my hermano is under it~" Antonello blushed at this before laughing.

"You're weird, you know that?"

"Eh! H-How am I weird!" Antonio made a distorted face of disbelief as his brother has said that, only making Antonello laugh at this.

"Just because hermanito~" Antonello replied, laughing again before standing up and starting to walk around by himself. Antonio was confused by this answer but shook it off and continued to collect flowers. The young Spanish boy never got to see beautiful flowers like this a lot, so he liked to cherish them when he could. Antonio stood up and looked around, seeing his brother in the distance. He smiled before he started walking over to some beautiful red colored carnations.

"I don't think I have any red ones yet," he softly commented to himself before kneeling down and picking some, adding to the large collection that was already in his hand. Antonio looked down at the flowers in his hands before standing up and turning around. "Antonel- ngh..!"

It was then that Antonio grabbed his chest and collapsed to the ground, only letting out a sharp groan before his breathing started becoming heavy.

"ANTONIO!" Antonello yelled as he ran towards his fallen brother. He growled as he tackled the man behind Antonio, a Taser in the man's hand. Antonello struggled to get the Taser from the man's hand. The man was brawny and pretty strong, but Antonello wasn't going to give in because of that. However, once he had the Taser, Antonello made the man go into a spasm by pressing it to the man's side before tossing it away and getting off of him, walking over to Antonio and lifting him up.

"A…An….t-to…." Antonio huffed out ever so quietly as his body heavily shook. His emerald green eyes were slowly losing their glow of life as his hand twitched over his heart. Antonello softly cursed before setting Antonio down again and pulling out a small bottle, tipping it and letting one of the small, white pills fall out of it.

"Here Antonio! Take this!" Antonello exclaimed as he sat his brother up and placed the pill into his brother's mouth. Antonio swallowed hard as the pill slowly slid down his throat. Antonello then got Antonio onto his back and started running back towards the house, hearing his brother's breathing slowly start to calm a bit but not enough for him to calm down.

"Hang in there Antonio!" Antonello yelled as his breathing started getting heavy from running. He didn't know who that man was, but he knew that he was trying to do something to Antonio. He figured it was probably because that man wanted to use Antonio as ransom for money from his family, but Antonello also figured that the man didn't expect Antonio to fall down like that in such a way.

Antonio's vision slowly started to fade, barely hearing anything that his brother was even saying. He couldn't even tell where he was since it was all a blur to him. A blur of various colors was all he could see as his body shook. He couldn't comprehend at the moment what had just happened before everything went completely black.

The young Spaniard's eyes slowly opened, faintly hearing voice speaking. No, arguing. Antonio blinked a few times, trying to clear his head to try and see if he could understand what was going on outside of his bedroom. However, the one thing that he heard that was very clear was a slapping sound, causing him to shakily sit up.

"You're supposed to look after your brother Antonello!" Antonio heard his mother yell. Antonio gasped as he slowly sat up and slowly proceeded towards his door. He knew that his brother was being blamed for something that wasn't his fault and he wanted to stop it from happening.

"I did!" Antonello yelled back. Antonio slowly opened his door and saw his brother holding his cheek but wasn't crying. He knew Antonello wasn't the type to cry about anything unless it was something really horrible.

"Then why was he unconscious!"

"I already told you!"

"I'm not going to believe something like that! You're-"

"Mama…. Don't yell at hermano…." Antonio softly interrupted as he leaned against his door frame, looking at the scene before him. Antonello and their mother looked over at Antonio, wondering when he had woken up. "Antonello's…. t-telling the truth….. He… protected me… he… h-helped… give me my medicine….." Antonio started tipping forwards before Antonello quickly got up and ran over in time to catch his brother before he fell.

"You should be resting Antonio…" Antonello softly said as he helped him back inside. Antonello helped Antonio back into bed before covering him up. Antonio tiredly looking over at his twin.

"Seems… like I won't…. b-be able to go to the beach with… you tomorrow…"

"Si…." Antonio weakly smiled up at his brother.

"Hermano…?"

"Si…?"

"Can… you bring me… home some shells…?"

Antonello looked at Antonio with surprise as he heard this. "You actually like those things?" he asked. "I just brought them back that one time so you had something to look forward to when you could go."

Antonio shakily nodded. "Si…. I really like them…" he replied between heavy breaths. "T-They're… pretty… I like them a lot more too… s-since you're… the one… w-who brought them to me…" Antonello blushed at this with a smile.

"You're so silly Antonio, but if you really want me to bring you some back I will~"

"Gracias~" Antonio chimed breathily with a slightly brighter smile.

"Just get some sleep, kay~ I promise that we'll both go to the beach together when you get better!" Antonio nodded as he slightly moved over and patted the spot next to him.

"Sleep with me? Just for tonight?" Antonello slightly frowned at this.

"I don't know…" he commented. "Mom and dad might get mad."

"They won't…" Antonio tried to assure his brother. "I'm scared to be alone tonight. Please?" Antonello softly laughed as he slipped into the bed with his brother.

"Alright~ You win~ but only for tonight~"

"yay~" Antonio smiled before falling asleep. Antonello smiled as he patted his brother's head before falling asleep himself. Even if his brother was weird, he still loved him. Antonello knew that Antonio wanted to do all the things he did, but knew that was impossible.

_Someday… I promise I'll take you,_ Antonello thought before drifting completely off to sleep. It was a promise he would keep to his brother not matter what. A promise that he felt he shouldn't break, not matter what.

0-0-0

"You sure you're feeling alright…?" Antonello asked his twin as he watched him eat his breakfast in bed. Antonio shakily nodded.

"S-Si… just tired…." Antonio softly replied as he set his empty bowl on the night stand in his room, weakly smiling at his brother. "I took my medicine… so I should be fine by the time you come back."

"I see…." Antonello looked over at the door before looking back at his brother. "You sure you want those shells still? I could bring you back something else."

"No, I want shells…" Antonio pulled his drawer opened and pulled out the small bag of shells his brother had gotten him the last time. "I really… love the shells you get… they're all so pretty~" Antonio pulled out a small, dark green shell from the bag and showed it to his brother. "This one looks like your eyes~"

Antonello's cheeks dusted with a soft pink color at that. "You think..?"

"Si~ V-Very… much…" Antonio's breathing became a little heavy again.

"Don't excite yourself too much Antonio," their mother commented as she walked into the room and kissed her son's forehead. "You should rest. Mr. Julius is here to take care of you."

"Really?" Antonio asked softly as he placed his shells back into his drawer and looked up at his mother.

"Si. Be good for him while we're gone, okay? I'll bring you back some ice cream and more medicine, okay?"

"Okay mama…" She smiled down at him before smiling at Antonello.

"Ready to go Antonello?"

"Si, I'm ready," Antonello replied as he stood up.

"I'll get you something to make up for hitting you yesterday, okay?" Antonello nodded as he took his mother's hand and waved to his little brother before the two were out of sight. Antonio softly sighed as he laid down again, curling up.

The poor, young Spaniard always seemed to miss out when his family went to the beach. It was very rare that his parents weren't working and it seemed that he would always have heart problems the day before they got off. At least he wasn't all alone though. A soft knock came at his door.

"Come in…." Antonio softly called before the door opened and a tall yet young looking man waked in. He had dark auburn hair that seemed as though it hadn't been properly brushed in a few days and he had chocolate honey eyes.

"Ciao Antonio~" the man greeted with a smile. Antonio slightly smiled back up at the man.

"Hola Señor Julius…"

"How are you feeling this morning?"

"Okay…" Julius walked over to Antonio and knelt down in front of him.

"You just rest, okay?"

"Kay…."

"You know, I don't ever see any of your friends coming to visit you when you're not feeling well," Julius commented.

"I don't have any…" Antonio softly replied. "I've never been able to make any because of my condition… I've either been stuck at home or in a hospital most of the time."

"I see. Hm…. Would you like to have one?"

"Well… si… why?"

"I have a grandson about your age. I'm sure you two could be friends."

Antonio's eyes widened with a bit of delight as he heard this. "R-Really?"

"Si~ I'll bring him with me the next time I have to come take care of you, deal~?" Antonio smiled even bright as he nodded in reply. Julius smiled back as he patted the boy's head. "Wonderful~ I'll make sure to do that then~" He stood up. "Now get some rest, I'll make lunch when it gets close to the time to do that." Antonio nodded in reply again before yawning and closing his eyes

The last thing the Spanish boy heard was the sound of footsteps walking out of his room and the door closing. With those last sounds, Antonio drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face, excited for the day that he would be able to meet someone who could be his friend. It was almost too exciting for Antonio to even sleep, but his body knew he needed it more than anything and wouldn't allow for anything else to wake him up. With the final thoughts of meeting a new friend, Antonio fell completely asleep and his body falling limp because of it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**and here we have the first part of Antonio's childhood~ ouo**

**Hope you enjoy and, really, I don't have much else to say.**

**I probably won't be updating until after Thursday since it is my B-Day on Thursday and I kind of just want to do nothing! XD Yes, I am weird but whatever.**


	15. Chapter 14

"They're so pretty~" Antonio commented with a smile as he took out a shell from the bag his brother had brought back with him from the beach. It was only mid-afternoon but it was pouring heavy rain outside so his family had to come back early.

"Sorry I wasn't able to get a lot…" Antonello apologized as he dried his wet hair since he had just taken a shower. Antonio shook his head as he took out another shell.

"It's okay~ I'm happy with the amount you got~" Antonio smiled happily at his brother before placing the shell in his hand back into the bag and pulling out a rugged, long, pink item. He looked at it with confusion before holding it out to his brother. "What's this Antonello?"

"That's something called coral," Antonello replied as he hung the slightly damp towel around his shoulders. "I think it broke off from the reef."

"Reef?"

"Um…. It's hard to explain… I don't even know what it really is. I just know what it's called and where it comes from." Antonio nodded as he ran his fingers over the coral, softly laughing.

"It feels funny but it's pretty~"

"I heard that people make things out of the coral that comes off of the reefs."

Antonio looked over at his brother with amazement. "They actually make things from this?" he asked, holding out the piece of coral in his hand. Antonello nodded, which only made Antonio even more excited to have something like this. Antonio placed the coral back into the bag before placing it in his drawer and hugging his twin. "Gracias hermano~"

Antonello smiled as he hugged his brother back. "De nada hermanito~ I'm glad you're happy~" Antonio softly giggled as he pulled away.

"Very happy~"

"How are you feeling anyways?"

"Still a little tired, but I'm fine other than that."

"I see."

"I think I'll be completely fine tomorrow."

"I see," Antonello softly said with a smile. "That's good."

"Um… Antonello?" Antonio softly asked, making Antonello look at his brother with confusion. "Can we ask Señor Julius to take us to those flowers you took me to yesterday?"

"I don't mind… why do you ask?"

"Well… He said that he would take me somewhere tomorrow with you since mama and papa are a little paranoid on leaving me alone so… he promised he'd take me somewhere if I wanted to…"

"Ah! I see…" Antonello nodded. "I'm fine with that but I would think you would ask him to take you to the beach."

Antonio shook his head. "No! I-I want to go with mama and papa and you… You know… as a family…." Antonello laughed at this as he stood up.

"I get it, I get it! Rest up so we can go out early tomorrow then!" Antonio smiled even brighter before nodding.

"I will~" Antonio waved to his brother before he walked out of the room before taking out the bag of shells. The boy gently dumped all of them out and started looking at all of them one by one. It was then that Antonio came across a small, green pebble. He picked it up and looked at it.

"Aw~ It looks like my eyes~" he chimed happily. The green pebble looked as though it would sparkle in the sunlight. Antonio set the pebble on top of his night stand before he went back to looking at the rest of the shells that were on his bed. Once he was done, he placed all of them back into the bag before he picked up the pebble again. Antonio couldn't help but stare at the beautiful stone in his hands.

"Ah! I know!" Antonio softly exclaimed as he opened the bottom drawer of his night stand and pulled out a small kit. As he opened it, the contents of what were inside were revealed. A small tool that looked like a crane was present inside it, along with a few clamps, cord, and other items. Antonio took out a piece of cord from the box and also a silver color bell cap. He placed the cap onto the stone before using the tool to tighten it around the stone before placing a small, silver color crimping bead over it to keep it in place. He then strung the cord through the loop and tied the top of it to keep it from sliding off.

Antonio smiled as he looked at the necklace he had just made with the stone, glad to know he had a way to keep it with him always. The boy placed the necklace around his neck, smiling again. He then placed his kit away and laid down in his bed, slightly lifting up the stone and staring down at the stone.

_It's so pretty~_ he chimed in thought, yawning and laying down but he was still staring at the stone. _Hermano really knows what makes me happy…_ Those last thoughts were enough to make Antonio fall asleep without much trouble.

0-0-0

Antonio woke up that morning, softly groaning as he turned on his side and curled up again. He wasn't feeling very well and didn't want to get out of bed. A soft knock came at his door before it opened, Antonello walking in.

"You're still sleeping?" he asked as he walked over to the bed. "Señor Julius is here." Antonio whined as he covered his head.

"I don't want to get up…." Antonio softly whimpered. Antonello looked at his brother with confusion, gently pulling the covers from over his head. The older of the twins bit his bottom lip as he saw the younger's cheeks flushed a bright, red hue. Antonello placed his hand on his brother's head before softly sighing.

"Looks like we're not going anywhere…." He commented as he pulled his hand away from Antonio's burning head. "You're sick…"

Antonio whimpered. "B-But… the flowers…" he started to cry, wanting to go out to get the flowers and bring some home.

"You're too sick to go out… Just relax, okay? There's still a few more weeks before fall comes." Antonello gave Antonio a reassuring smile before heading towards the door. "I'll ask Señor Julius to make some soup for you so just rest."

Antonio sighed as he rolled onto his side again. "Kay…." He replied with much disappointment. Antonello opened the door and looked back at his brother before walking out, feeling saddened by Antonio's reaction. Once the door was closed, Antonio slipped the necklace off and looked at that stone. "I wanted to go see the flowers…."

The small boy pulled the blanket over his head again and softly cried. He really hated his weak heart and body in general. It prevented him from doing the fun things that he wanted like his brother. Sometimes he hated his brother for not being weak but that was only lapses when things like this happened. Antonio loved his brother more than anything, but he also hated the fact his brother could go out and do things more than he could.

_It's not fair…_ Antonio thought as he choked out a sob into his pillow. _I want to go out! I… want to do things…_

Antonio cried himself to sleep even before Antonello could come back. He wanted so bad to recover from this like the doctor said he would but, at this point, he didn't think it would even be possible.

0-0-0

A week passed before Antonio was actually able to go outside again. His fever had broken and just sat out in the backyard with his back against the tree. The temperature in the air was slightly colder than before, so Antonio knew that fall was going to be coming soon. He was by himself at the house at the moment since Antonello went to go play with some friends and Julius was working.

"…It's not fair…." He softly commented to no one in particular. He wished he had his own friends to play with but anyone he tried to get close to would only run away when he had an attack or when he couldn't keep up with them. When was he going to get friends? Antonio looked up towards the sky before standing up. "I'll go to the church…. Señor Julius is probably going to have another sermon soon…"

So that's what Antonio did. He walked down the street of the town and slowly opened the door, seeing that everyone inside was settling down. Antonio quickly found a spot in the back and sat down, though he was the only one back there but he didn't mind. As the place started to quiet down, Julius walked out into the front before slowly turning towards everyone.

"It is good to see all of you here today," Julius began in a slightly softer tone than how he normally spoke. "Today I will be saying a sermon on the education of a child." The place fell silent again as everyone waited for Julius to start. Antonio looked on with anticipation, never having been here before.

"_We must not imagine that these words are to be understood in an absolute sense, as if no child that had been trained up in the way wherein he should go had ever departed from it. Matter of fact will by no means agree with this: So far from it, that it has been a common observation, "Some of the best parents have the worst children." It is true, this might sometimes be the case, because good men have not always a good understanding; and, without this, it is hardly to be expected that they will know how to train up their children. Besides, those who are in other respects good men have often too much easiness of temper; so that they go no farther in restraining their children form evil, than an old Eli did, when he said gently, "Nay, my sons, the report I hear of you is not good." This, then, is no contradiction to the assertion; for their children are not "trained up in the way wherein they should go." But it must be acknowledged, some have been trained therein with all possible care and diligence; and yet before they were old, yea, in the strength of their years, they did utterly depart from it!_"

The tone in which Julius gave was strong and powerful. Antonio was taken back by it at first, but then just listened on. He never would have thought that such gentle man could be so powerful when he was speaking from a sermon. It was enough to make Antonio want to continue listening. The tone, the power. No wonder Julius was acknowledged so much for his speeches.

"_The words, then, must be understood with some limitation, and then they contain an unquestionable truth. It is a general, though not an universal, promise; and many have found the happy accomplishment of it. As this is the most probable method for making their children pious which any parents can take, so it generally, although not always, meets with the desired success. The God of their fathers is with their children; he blesses their endeavours; and they have the satisfaction of leaving their religion, as well as their worldly substance, to those that descend from them._"

_He's really good…_ Antonio thought as he continued to listen, though the words were only becoming more jumbled as he continued to listen. He didn't seem to care about the words anymore. Instead, he was more interested in the voice that Julius was giving out but, at one point, Antonio swore he heard a slight deter in the tone. However, since it was only for a brief moment, Antonio wasn't sure if he had heard a difference.

Soon, Antonio realized that the sermon was over and the people were exiting the church. He didn't though as he looked at Julius, seeing a slight sadness on the older man's face as he watched everyone leave. Once it was empty, Antonio stood up and walked up to Julius.

"Hola," he greeted as he looked up at the Italian man who looked back down at him with a small smile.

"Ciao Antonio~ What brings you here~?" Antonio could tell Julius was trying to force being happy around him, which only made a frown appear on the Spanish boy's face.

"I came to listen but… um…" Antonio looked down, not wanting to seem rude with what he was about to ask. "…is there something wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

Antonio fidgeted a bit as he was asked this. "Well… you're forcing yourself to be happy and you look sad so…" Julius's smile slowly faded before he sighed.

"Si… There is something wrong…" Antonio slowly looked up at the man, seeing the saddened look on the man's face again. "My grandson was killed in an accident yesterday."

Antonio seemed to freeze in place as he heard this. The grandson that Julius was going to offer to bring with him to see if they could be friends, was dead? Antonio felt his lip tremble as he tried to speak again but couldn't seem to do so. He looked down again before slightly clenching his hands.

"O-Oh… I'm… s-sorry to hear that…." Antonio softly said. Julius slightly smiled as he patted Antonio on the head.

"Grazie but I feel bad not bringing him with me when you were sick," Julius commented, making Antonio shake his head.

"I-It's okay…" Antonio slightly smiled up at Julius. "I hope your son and daughter-in-law can have more children someday…" Julius smiled down at Antonio, ruffling his hair a bit

"Grazie. I'm sure they will someday, but I'm sure it won't be any time soon." Antonio nodded.

"I should get home. You're sermon was really good! I-I'll… come back sometime…"

"You're always welcome here~" Antonio smiled with a nod before he quickly walked out of the church and headed home, though he was walking a bit more slowly.

_I wish Antonello was here… he'd know what to say…_ Antonio commented in thought, stopping in an alley. Antonio slid down and curled up a bit on the ground. Before Antonio knew it, he had fallen asleep right then and there.

0-0-0

When Antonio woke up, he found himself in a rather dark room where only a small light glowed in the corner of the room. The Spanish boy shakily sat up, feeling as though all of his energy had been sucked out of him and was only left with the bare minimum. His eyes slowly scanned the room but couldn't see anyone there. The only thing was that light in the corner. As his blurry eyes slowly started to focus better, Antonio saw that he was chained to the wall and that only caused him to start panicking. Why was he chained? Where was he? So many questions were running through his mind that it was hard for him to even know what to do. Of course, panicking only got him into a slight attack and he slowly started to calm himself down by breathing in and out slowly.

As soon as he was calm, he started looking around again but still couldn't see anyone there. Antonio softly sighed as he curled up, rubbing his arms since he was cold. Wherever he was, he didn't like it one bit.

"Has anyone come yet?" a voice asked from somewhere. Antonio looked around but couldn't see anything. The voice also seemed to be coming from a different room, which made him wonder even more where he was.

"Not yet," a gruffer and deeper voice replied. Antonio blinked with confusion, wondering what the man had meant by that. Was he kidnapped or something? Antonio buried his face into his knees, trying to keep from crying. He wanted to be back home right now.

"Damn… if they don't bring that money soon…" the first man's voice had started getting darker as he spoke, making Antonio start to shake. "…that poor child will die." The Spanish boy felt himself starting to heavily shake as he heard that. He was going to die? What was going on? Antonio felt tears falling from his eyes as his heart started beating faster. It was too much for him before hearing a knock on a door, though the sound weak to Antonio.

"What the… what the hell do you want kid!" the gruff voice yelled angrily. "What is this?"

"That's the money you wanted!" Antonio sat up as he heard this new voice, knowing exactly who it was. "Now give me back my brother!"

"Fine. Here!"

Antonio heard walking coming towards the room he was in before the door opened and, there, stood his twin. Antonello walked over and used the key in his hand, unlocking the chains.

"A..Anto…n-nello…." Antonio softly said with relief, though his breathing was rather heavy from the fright he had received not much earlier. Once the chains were off, Antonello hugged his brother and rubbed his back.

"Sh… calm down Antonio…" Antonello softly said, wanting to get Antonio's breathing under control again. "You need to calm down."

"I-I'm… t-trying…." Though Antonio's breathing wasn't getting any better. Antonello bit his lower lip as he picked his twin up into his arms and left the building. Antonello could feel Antonio's body shaking heavily as he walked, worried about his little brother more than anything. "A…Anto….n-nello… w-where… d-did you get… t-the money..?"

"It's from the money I've been saving…" Antonio's eyes widened at this, not believing what he was hearing. He always thought that his brother bought things with the allowance that their parents gave them, but he never thought Antonello saved it up.

"W-Why… y-you didn't…"

"I know I didn't, but I wanted to use it and not let mom or dad have to worry about you… besides, we're still having financial problems with all the medical bills and stuff…" Antonio looked down, feeling like such a nuisance with his health at the moment. More tears slipped out of his eyes, slightly clenching at his chest as his breathing got softer and softer. Before Antonio knew it, he blacked out once again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**Here's the next chapter~ ouo**

**BTW, if you're wondering who the grandchild was, it was Seborga. I know, I know I'm horrible but... yeah... ;;; Please don't kill me for that!**

**Enjoy~**


	16. Chapter 15

As he came to, Antonio could hear something beeping near him. It took several long minutes before Antonio could properly see and noticed that he wasn't in his room. No. He was in a place that was like his second room and he knew that. He looked around more and saw that he was attached to an IV drip, a heart monitor, and an oxygen mask. As his mind started clearing up more, he could hear voices outside of his room.

"W-What?" the sound of his mother's voice could be heard, concern coating her voice.

"I'm sorry but his heart is too weak at the moment and, with all the shock his heart has been receiving lately, it has been getting weaker. I'm afraid to say that he might not even live until his next birthday, and that's only if he's lucky."

_W-What..?_ Antonio asked in thought as he weakly looked towards the door. What he was hearing wasn't something he had wanted to hear. He was going to die? Antonio felt his lower lip start to quiver as he heard his mother start to cry and his father trying to comfort her. Antonio didn't want to die.

"Antonio…" Antonello softly said as he walked into the room, walking over to his brother and looking down at him with a saddened look on his face. Antonio felt his heart sink seeing the expression on his brother's face.

"A-Antonello…~" Antonio weakly smiled up at his brother, trying to keep from crying. As Antonio shakily lifted his hand, his twin took it and smiled a bit. "Aw…~ I-I'm sorry… for worrying you…"

"It's okay… Just get better, okay?"

Antonio couldn't help but cry at that, tears streaming down his cheeks. "…B-But…"

"Sh… ignore what the doctor said. I-I know you'll get better." Antonio shakily nodded but looked towards the window where he could see the twilight starting to take over the sky.

"Antonello… c-can you… make me a promise..?"

"Sure. What is it?"

Antonio swallowed hard as he squeezed his brother's hand a bit more. "I-If… I don't make it… will you go t-to… to the beach for me?" Antonello felt himself freeze in place as he heard these words escape from Antonio's mouth, making him bit his lower lip for the second time that day. "please..?"

"I-I promise…" Antonello softly replied as he placed his forehead against his brother's hand. "But… you'll get better and we'll all go together…" Antonio slightly nodded, though he knew that it was probably impossible.

"Hermano…?" Antonio softly asked after a long silence.

"S-Si…?" Antonio took off the necklace he had on and placed it in Antonello's hands.

"I… want you to have this…"

"But… I thought you liked this… You told me yourself that you did…"

"I-I know… but I want mi hermano to… to have it…" Antonello looked at the small stone necklace before placing it around his neck, slightly smiling.

"G-Gracias…." Antonio smiled back before drifting off to sleep again. Antonello held his brother's hand, softly sobbing as he placed his head on his brother's bed.

"You... were asleep for five days… how can you… just say that so easily?" Antonello softly asked as the words choked out of his mouth, his hand tightening on his brother's hand more. "How can you… still be you… when you're in this condition..?"

"Surgery would be hard on his body at that age," the doctor's voice came from outside the door. "He's young and it's likely that he won't survive if we give him a heart transplant." Antonello felt his heart sink as he heard this. "It'd be less risky if we just leave him be, that way he can enjoy the days that he has left."

_Has… left..?_ Antonello repeated in thought, staring at the door with disbelief. He didn't want his little brother to die. Not like this. Not when he hadn't taken him to the beach yet so his little brother could see it and have some fun there. Antonello bit his lower lip, looking back at Antonio.

_..I'll make sure you don't die, Antonio._

0-0-0

Antonio's eyes slowly opened to the bright light that was entering the room. His glazed over emerald eyes looked around the room before looking over, seeing his twin setting up a vase of flowers on the night stand. The Spaniard blinked a few times before remembering where he actually was. The hospital.

"Antonello…?" Antonio softly asked, causing his brother to look over at him with a smile on his face.

"Buenos Dias Antonio," he greeted.

"Buenos Dias Hermano…" Antonio shakily sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Did you get those for me?"

"Of course~ You said you liked the flowers at the meadow so I personally went there to get you some."

"Aw…~ G-Gracias…~"

"De nada~" Antonello finished adjusting the flowers before sitting down in the chair near the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit better," Antonio replied with a smile. "But… I'm probably not going anywhere any time soon."

"Si… I know." Antonello frowned at that before pulling out a small pendant from his pocket; a different one from the one Antonio had given him. "Here…" Antonio blinked in confusion as it was set into his hand. When he opened his hand, a pebble with a red hue tint could be seen attached to a necklace.

"Aw…~ P-Pretty~"

"I found the stone when walking around town. Thought you might like to have it if I made a necklace out of it." Antonio smiled happily as he hugged his brother, though it was weaker than the ones he had normally given him.

"Gracias~ I love it~" Antonio stated. He pulled away, placing it on and staring down at it. "Aw…~ It's pretty~"

Antonello smiled happily; glad his brother was happy for once since he had gotten here. Sure, it had only been a few days, but he knew that Antonio thought it had been much, _much_ longer than that. Antonello was trying to come visit as often as possible while his parents worked, or at least every day after school. While Antonello went to school to learn, Antonio was stuck in a place like this.

The older twin bit his lower lip a bit as he thought of that. He knew how much Antonio wanted to go to school like himself, but knew he couldn't. Their parents thought it was too risky for Antonio to go with a weak heart. They were afraid that Antonio could get too excited and wind up in the hospital like he was now. Antonello knew that hadn't proven to be very useful so far. Antonio was _still_ winding up bedridden or hospitalized.

"Hermano, how's school going?" Antonio finally asked after a long silence between the two. Antonello could hear the slightly pained voice in his brother's voice as he asked this. It hurt him to know that he was having fun learning and making friends while his brother was stuck here. Antonello swallowed a bit hard, though was trying to keep it as quiet as possible.

"It's alright," he finally replied. "A lot of people from the school have moved away, so the classes are smaller than they were before."

"Oh? How come?"

"I don't know. Probably has something to do with their parents' jobs from what I can figure."

"Hm… That's weird… I never thought they would move away before the school year started," Antonio commented, looking out the window. Antonello could see the far off look his brother had, a look he was familiar with a lot when it came to his brother.

"Hey, Antonio?"

Antonio looked back over to his brother with a small smile. "Hm?"

"Mom has taught you how to write, right?"

"Si, why?" Antonello rummaged through his backpack before pulling out a small book. It looked as though it was bound in a leather cover, but it wasn't. He handed it out to his brother who took it, looking at it with confusion. "What's this?"

"A journal or pretty much anything you want it to be," Antonello replied. "I figured it would be something for you to do while you were here. I heard dad talking one time saying that he was going to bring you some books to read. Well… maybe you could write one yourself?"

"…Write one myself?" Antonio asked as he looked up from looking from the journal resting on top of his hands.

"Si… I'm sure you could think of something to write about…"

"Would… you read it if I did decide to write a story?" Antonio asked with a soft blush on his cheeks. Antonello stared at his brother before laughing.

"You're so silly hermanito. Of course I'd read it," Antonello replied. "I could even be your editor if you wanted." Antonio couldn't help but softly giggle at this comment. He was his brother was there to make him feel better, even though it was hard for him to get overexcited.

"Okay~ T-then I'll think about it~" Antonello nodded, standing up and looking at the wall clock, then back at his brother.

"I need to go home. I'll visit tomorrow." Antonio nodded. Antonello picked up his bag, waving and leaving the room. Antonio waved back before frowning with a sigh, looking down again.

_What's the point of trying to start a story..?_ he asked himself. _The doctor already said… I won't be living long anyways…_

Antonio buried his face into his knees, softly crying into them. He didn't want to think about dying at all, but he also knew that it was going to happen. Even if he didn't want to know he was, he knew it. It was a hard fact for any child, but it happened sometimes. A child would know that they would die and then it would happen. Antonio wasn't an exception to that rule, but he really wished he was.

_You're so lucky Antonello… you're so lucky…_

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: **_

** I know this chapter is rather short so... sorry. The next chapter will be the end of the Antonio Memory saga and then we'll get back to the main story line.**

**I'm hoping the next chapter will be rather long because of that so...**

**hope you enjoy!**


	17. Chapter 16

He knew he was getting worse every day but he did his best to hide it from his brother. Antonio would act as if nothing was wrong, but there was. Almost every other week Antonio would either be weak and couldn't move and then the next he would seem perfectly fine. Antonio knew. He _knew_ he wasn't going to last until his next birthday, which he was hoping he would so he could celebrate one last birthday with his brother before he died. It was close to Christmas time at this point and Antonio was still stuck in the hospital. Christmas was going to be rather lonely. Sure his family was going to come visit him for a few hours, but then they would all leave him alone and go home. The young Spanish boy sighed, laying his head on his knees as he looked out the window at the snow that was gently falling.

"…is this really the fate I've been succumbed to…?" Antonio softly asked himself, pulling the blanket around him to keep himself warm. "Hermano…." He pulled the blanket over his head as he started to softly sob into his knees. It wasn't fair but he knew it was his own fault as well. He was the one who fell asleep that one time and got kidnapped. The first incident he knew it wasn't his fault, but the second on was.

The Spaniard shook his head again, rubbing at his eyes. "They won't come…. I…I know because I heard there's supposed to be a bad storm…." Antonio shook his head for a third time. He didn't know what he would do if his family didn't come to see him for Christmas. Sure, they would probably come the day after, but that didn't mean very much to him right now. He wanted to see his family _on_ Christmas.

Antonio sighed again, laying down on the bed and curling up again. He would have to get used to it, right? His mind started to wander as he started to drift off to sleep. Maybe some sleep would help him feel better? He seemed to be sleeping a lot lately. Antonio wondered if this is what people did when they were on the verge of dying. With those thoughts still bouncing in his mind, Antonio slowly fell asleep again in hopes to dream of better days.

0-0-0

"Si… I understand… Don't push yourself if you can't…" Antonio spoke these words softly, trying to keep the sadness in his voice from showing through as he spoke on the phone with his mother. "Si… tomorrow then… Si… Adios…." The Spaniard hung the phone up and looked down at the floor. Just like he figured, no one could see him because of the storm. The only other person he knew was here was the nurse that had been taking care of him, but she was always busy with paperwork so he knew she wouldn't have time to spend with him.

Antonio slowly shuffled back to his room, lucky that his oxygen cord was so long. He laid back onto his bed and pulled the blanket over his shivering form. This was the worst Christmas he had ever had, he knew that. The young Spaniard cringed as he held his chest, feeling a squeezing pain there. Tears slipped from his eyes again, pain radiating throughout his entire body.

_Hermano…_ Antonio thought before everything went completely black and all that reached him was absolute silence.

0-0-0

He woke up to the sound of soft talking. Every day Antonio had been getting weaker and weaker to the point where he was having difficult moving. It was hard on him to know that he was going to die any day. The heart monitor was beeping faster than before since his heart is slowly fading. The Spaniard's dull, green eyes looked around the room. Antonio knew it was nearing the day of his and his brother's birthday and wondered if he would be able to live that long to spend it with him.

_Probably not…_ Antonio commented in thought, giving a weak, sad smile as he thought about it. He couldn't cry though. He didn't want to cry any more than he already had. Antonio took in a deep breath before hearing soft voices outside. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he wondered if it was about him.

He knew that it probably was. Why wouldn't it be about him? Here he was, on the verge of death and his parents couldn't afford to pay for surgery for him. His parents were trying hard to get enough money, but they still couldn't get enough. Not even with the money that Antonello had saved up was helping. Antonio closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again to see his twin there.

"Hola hermano…." He softly greeted with that same weak and sad smile.

"Hola…" Antonello smiled back, trying to be as cheerful as possible. "I have something for you…"

"You do?" Antonello nodded as he held out a small, glass bell over his brother. Antonio looked at it, blinking in slight confusion. "What is it…?"

"I heard it's called a wish granting bell…" Antonello replied. "Not really sure if it's really true, but I thought it'd be worth a shot. They say that if you make a wish on it and if it comes true, it'll ring."

"I see…"

Antonello gently placed the item into Antonio's hand. "Make a wish hermanito."

"I don't think… it would come true even if I tried…." Antonio softly commented, smile fading from his face. Of course, this caused Antonello to frown as well and his gaze falling to the ground.

"You never know… it would…"

"Heh…. I guess…. But I don't think so… I-It's impossible for you to wish yourself from dying…"

"…..Si…. I guess so… but you can at least try si?" Antonio softly laughed at this but nodded. He closed his eyes for a few minutes before opening them again. "Hermano… can you hang it up there?" Antonio raised a shaky arm up and pointed to the hook that was above him. Antonello looked up before nodding. He situation himself with his legs on either side of Antonio before taking the string on the bell and placing it on the hook, barely being able to reach it.

Once that was done, Antonello slowly got back down again. Antonio smiled a thanks to his brother before drifting off to sleep once again. Antonello softly sighed as he saw this, covering his brother up more.

"Sleep well…" he softly said, kissing Antonio's forehead. "Just… don't die, okay? You deserve so much more than all of this…" Antonello brushed Antonio's bangs back before sitting down in the chair, determined to keep his brother company for as long as possible. The older twin knew there wasn't much time left. He had overheard the doctor saying that, at this point, surgery wasn't going to even be possible.

Antonello cursed in his head for this happening to his little brother. His brother was supposed to get better, not worse. He softly sighed, dropping his head and shaking it. There was only a few days left until their birthday and he wanted to make it special for Antonio, even if he couldn't do much. Antonello gazed down at the necklace that he had made his twin, a saddened smile appearing on his face. He was rather happy that Antonio would still have it. He gently curled his fingers around the one on his neck that his twin gave him, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. No matter what happened, he promised himself that he would make this birthday one that Antonio would remember for the rest of his life. He didn't care if his parents disapproved of it, he would still do so.

0-0-0

Antonio's eyes opened to a sight he didn't think he would see. He slowly blinked a few times to make sure that he wasn't just dreaming the sight in front of him. The room was filled with decorations, but not just _any_ decorations. They were birthday decorations. A bright yet weak smile appeared on Antonio's face as he saw this. He, very shakily, sat up and looked around and saw his brother smiling at him.

"Feliz cumpleaños!" Antonello cheered, making Antonio giggle at this.

"Feliz cumpleaños," Antonio softly replied. Antonello walked over and sat beside his brother.

"Surprised?"

"Si..~ Very much so…~" Antonio replied as he gently hugged his brother. "Gracias hermano. This is really nice of you… makes me really happy." Antonello hugged back, patting his brother on the head.

"I'm glad. I went against what mom and dad said and set this up for you." Antonio looked up at his brother, a small frown on his face.

"Papa and mama didn't want you doing this?" Antonello nodded. "Why?" Antonello sighed, shaking his head.

"What do you think Antonio?"

"…because I won't be living long?" Antonio softly asked. Antonello nodded in reply, hugging his brother more.

"I wanted this day to be special, so I set it up. I don't care if they didn't want me to. I wanted you to be happy on our birthday," Antonello stated.

"What about school?"

"I skipped. I'd rather spend the day with my twin on our birthday than go to school." Antonio softly laughed, burying his face into his brother's shoulder.

"You're so nice Antonello… I'm lucky to have you as a brother…" Antonello blushed at that but only smiled and hugged his brother a bit more.

"I'm lucky to have you too… I even brought a few cupcakes for you."

Antonio's expression lightened up more. "Birthday cupcakes~?" he asked excitedly, making Antonello laugh but also nod. "Yay…~ Hermano is the best…~!" Antonello patted Antonio's head again before standing up and taking out a small container with some cupcakes in it. He walked back over to the bed and opened it, letting his brother choose the first one. Antonio looked at them before picking up one of the vanilla ones there. He smiled as he started eating it happily.

"Is it good?" Antonello asked as he picked out a chocolate one and set the container on the side table. Antonio nodded in reply this time, eating and unable to reply with words. "Good." Antonello started eating his, but just knowing this was their last birthday together was hard on him. It would take a miracle for Antonio to survive, and they both knew that something like that wasn't even possible.

Antonello's gaze traveled up towards the glass bell that he had gotten his brother. He really hoped his twin's wish would come true. If they would live together longer, than that would be the best birthday present that either of them could wish for. If they would just stay together a little longer, that would really be the greatest present for Antonio to receive. Even if Antonello couldn't live longer, he hoped his brother would have been able to. Antonio never got to go see the beach like he did since Antonio always got sick or ended up in the hospital when they were going to.

However, Antonello also knew that his brother enjoyed the times that he spent with Julius because he wasn't treated much differently than any other child would be treated. Antonello _knew_ that Julius just wanted to make Antonio happy those times he had to take care of him because of his problems. Antonello never thought of his brother as a weak person, just someone who always seemed to have bad luck with things. The older twin softly sighed as he remembered the time when his family was actually very well off financially. They had enough money to keep up with medical bills and medicine for Antonio, but after he and his brother got kidnapped that one time and a lot of money was demanded to keep them unharmed. That's when everything started spiraling downwards. Their money supply had become such a scarce thing. They had to sell their old house for a smaller one. Antonio was given his own room because of his medical problems while he, his mother, and his father all shared one room (though Antonello usually just slept on the couch since it wasn't as crowded.

Antonio never complained though. He would always just smile and tell everyone to have a good day while he was stuck at home with nothing to do besides sleeping, eating, and talking with Julius about whatever they wanted. Antonello knew that Antonio deserved to be much happier than just that. He knew Antonio deserved to go to the beach and play with other kids their age. He even knew that Antonio deserved to go to school like a regular kid to learn instead of having to be taught in a small house by their father or someone that made him uncomfortable. Yes. Antonio deserved much, _much_ more than that.

"Antonello?" Antonio asked, snapping Antonello out his thoughts as he looked back up to meet those bright green eyes. "You okay?"

"Si… I'm okay. Just thinking was all," Antonello replied, taking another bite of his cupcake. "Sorry."

"It's okay~ I just don't want you looking so sad. It's our birthday after all!" Antonello smiled as he saw his brother's cheerful face. "So… can you find a radio for me so we can listen to some music? You don't have to but I wanted to listen to some songs today."

"Already a step ahead!" Antonello chimed as he rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a small radio. He replaced the batteries in them before turning it on and turning it to Antonio's favorite station.

"Gracias~" Antonio thanked, hugging his brother happily before laying down and listening to the tunes that came over the speaker. Antonello smiled, glad he could make this day special for the both of them. Even if it was in a hospital, he was still glad he could make it so Antonio didn't have to spend the last few days he had left without anything to make him happy.

"You should try to sleep once I leave, okay?"

"Kay~ Um… can you leave the radio here?"

"Sure."

"Thanks."

The two just listened to the radio the rest of the day, talking once in a while between the breaks of the songs. They just talked about life. Antonello telling Antonio all about his week and Antonio happily listening since he enjoyed listening to the type of things his brother did each day. The two even laughed when Antonello told Antonio about him slipping and falling down a hill and making himself into a snowball because of it. However, everything has to come to an end. Eventually, Antonello had to leave to go back home and left Antonio with the small radio he had brought with him. Antonio listened to the songs for a while longer until he fell asleep to the soft and calm music that played. A wonderful day it was for Antonio and Antonello. Probably one of the best days the two could have after such a long time.

When next Antonio woke, he could hear a voice speaking. At first he wasn't sure who it was but as his hearing slowly came to and he could tell that it was Antonello's, though he couldn't hear anything that his brother was saying. The only words he was able to catch were 'asleep for a week'. Antonio had been asleep for a week? The next words that he caught were 'heart getting weaker' and 'not much time'.

_So…_ Antonio thought as he stared at the ceiling. _I'm going to die soon?_

Antonio knew this day was coming, but it still hit him hard. He closed his eyes before opening them again when he heard 'surgery' mentioned by someone. He couldn't make out the voice so he wasn't sure who it was, but that word was something he had heard a lot from his parents.

"There's only a point zero one percent chance of this actually being successful." Antonio recognized the voice as the doctor's and zoned out again. So… his parents were still trying to save him? That was actually rather nice to know, but he also felt like it wasn't going to help at all.

Before Antonio knew it, he was placed into a deep, deep sleep by the medicine the doctor gave him. Clasped in his small hand, however, was the necklace his brother had given him. It was his good luck charm and he _really_ hoped it would bring him luck.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

** I know I said this would be the end of Antonio's memory saga... but I just liked how this ended and felt like making it _one_ more chapter of his memory saga!**

**Sorry! I really am but I PROMISE the next chapter will be the end of his memory saga!**


	18. Chapter 17

Emerald green eyes very slowly opened as warmth filled his body. It was a natural warmth though. Antonio's eyes blinked a few times as he tried to realize where he was. It was that same room he had been in before in the hospital, but why did something feel different? He didn't know what it was at first, but then he finally realized what it was.

Antonio quickly sat up and placed a hand against his chest, feeling his heart beating normally. He looked around the room and realized that he had survived the surgery. Antonio blinked before looking down at his hand and finding not only the red stone necklace that Antonello gave him, but also the green stone necklace that he had given Antonello. The Spanish boy was rather confused on this before he got up, looking around. He didn't think he was going to survive his surgery, but here he was. Antonio quickly pulled the IV from his arm and ran down the hall to the phone. He dialed the number of his house and waited for someone to answer.

"Hola?" his mother's voice came to his ears.

"Mama…"

"Antonio? You're awake?"

"I am… um… Is Antonello there?" Silence only filled the other side of the phone, making Antonio start to feel scared. "Mama?"

"…he's… not here…" his mother finally replied after a long, tense silence.

"W-Where is he?"

"…we don't know sweetie." Antonio's eyes widened at hearing this and he started to shake heavily. His brother was missing? "We have police looking for him right now. We think that he ran away when he thought you weren't going to survive your surgery. Don't worry Antonio, we'll find him."

"…kay…" Antonio's voice was silent as he looked towards the ground. Why would his brother just get up and disappear like that? Was he really the horrible of a brother to make his twin worry about him? "bye mama…" Antonio hung up the phone, despite his mother telling him to wait so she could talk to him more.

Antonio didn't want to talk though. His brother was missing and that was the only thing that he could think about right now. He looked back down at his hand with the necklaces in them and softly sighed. His brother would come back, right? That's what Antonio hoped for anyways. The Spaniard slumped back to his room and laid back down on the bed. He hoped he could see his brother again. The whole family could go to the beach together and have fun together. Yes. That was the one thing that he hoped for once he got out.

0-0-0

"_After 17 years, police have ended the search for Antonello Carriedo and declaring him dead."_

This was the news that Antonio heard over his radio as he sat in his room, studying. Already he was in his third year of college and he was already in his early 20s. Antonio was a handsome young man with messy style, brown hair. He was rather tall as well, though not as tall as some people at his college. A frown formed on Antonio's thin face as he heard this.

"…Hermano…" he softly said. The Spaniard's voice had dropped an octave since he was a child and the tone in his voice was one of sadness upon hearing this news. "Where did you go?"

Even after 17 years, Antonio still believed that his brother was alive out there somewhere. Only once did he go to the beach within those years. He couldn't bring himself to go back there after his brother had been missing. Even when he was invited to go, Antonio would refuse the offer and just go home to study.

Antonio stood up and walked over to his nightstand where the two necklaces sat. Already they were collecting dust from not being cleaned or taken care of. Antonio didn't want to wear them since it was too painful to think about it. His brother was declared dead and that just crushed him. He shook his head though, still determined to think his brother was still alive. Antonio softly sighed as he walked out of his room.

"I'm going for a walk mama," he commented as he walked to the front door.

"Okay, but be back before dinner, alright?"

"Kay~" With that, Antonio walked out of the house. He softly sighed as he headed down the street, greeting someone every once in a while but there was only one place he wanted to go right now. His continued to walk with only a few, half-hearted greetings before coming up to a familiar church. Antonio looked up at it before opening the doors, seeing Julius dowsing the candles.

"Hola Señor Julius," the Spaniard greeted with a soft voice. Julius looked over at Antonio, softly smiling at Spaniard.

"Ciao Antonio," he greeted with a soft yet sad smile. "How are you today?" Antonio walked into the church and slowly walked over to Julius.

"I'm alright… I could be better…"

"I heard the news on the radio, I'm sorry to hear." Antonio softly sighed as he stopped in front of Julius, nodding.

"Si…" Julius patted Antonio's head. "…can… you pray with me?" Julius was slightly taken back by this comment. Antonio looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Please? I-I know I'm not really religious or anything… but I know hermano is still out there… I want him to come back safely…"

Julius was silent for a few seconds, not really knowing if this was a good idea or not but then smiled and nodded. "I will. We'll pray together for his safe return."

Antonio gave a small, sad smile and nodded in reply. The two stood in front of the altar with their hands clasped together and eyes closed. It was silent between the two as they did so. Julius slightly peeked and looked over at Antonio for a moment before going back to what he was doing. After a few minutes, the two were done and Antonio gave a rather sad smile.

"Thank you Señor Julius…." Antonio softly thanked. Somehow he didn't feel better at _all_. The Spaniard thought he would feel better if he had done that, but he had only felt worse than before. It was as if something had told him that his brother was dead or something bad had happened to him.

Julius, of course, only gave Antonio a gently smile and patted his head again. "Of course. Just don't overwork yourself or think too much on it, okay?"

"…kay…" Antonio waved to Julius and walked out of the church without another word. It wasn't as though Antonio wanted to leave like that, but he just needed time to himself now. That feeling he had gotten wasn't what he had wanted at all. It made him feel rather nauseous and make his stomach twist heavily.

Antonio took a deep breath before looking up and blinking as he thought he saw someone familiar. He stood there for a few moments before running towards where he had seen it. As he turned the corner, he had _just_ caught a glimpse of the person and his eyes widened.

"Hermano?" he softly asked as he ran towards the next corner. "Antonello!" However, as Antonio turned the next corner, his forehead was met with a gun. The Spaniard froze in place as he saw the stern look on his brother's face staring at him.

"Hello Antonio…" Antonello greeted with a darker voice than before. Antonio felt tears well up as he looked upon his brother.

"A-Antonello…" Antonio then smiled happily, forgetting about the gun at the moment. The fact that he was seeing his brother, who looked the same age him, was filling Antonio with a new hope and almost getting rid of the feeling he had before. "Y…You're alive… I-I'm so relieved…" Antonello didn't say a thing as he continued to stare at his brother. Antonio sniffled and rubbed at his eyes before hugging his brother with joy. "Where have you been..? I-I've missed you so much…"

Antonello was silent for a long while before he pushed his brother away from him and held the gun to his brother's chest. "Sorry Antonio…" Antonello whispered into his twin's ear before pulling the trigger.

Antonio felt his stomach churn for the last time as he collapsed to the ground. The last thing Antonio had seen was the image of his brother changing into something he wasn't familiar with. He wasn't sure if that was true or not, but it was something Antonio didn't like and, before long, everything went completely black.


	19. Chapter 18

Antonio's eyes snapped open as he felt himself jump. The angel heavily breathed, placing a hand over where his heart would normally be. His emerald green eyes wandered around the area he was in, noticing that he had come back from his past and had woken where he had passed out. However, he could see that the snow was already starting to melt at this point.

Antonio shakily sat up, getting his breathing under control. With one last, deep breath, Antonio finally focused on what he could. All of his memories had returned to him and his body was still shaking from learning it. He really couldn't believe that had happened. Those voices he heard the night he knew he was dying was Antonello's and another devil's voice. He didn't why he had been able to hear the other voice, but he assumed that it was because he was on the verge of dying that day.

_So... that means Antonello had given up his heart to me... and, because of that, he was changed into a devil..._

Antonio felt tears falling from his eyes at the thought. His own brother had given up a life of being happy just for him. Antonello gave up his own life for him. His twin brother gave up his sanity just for him. Those words struck Antonio hard. The reason his brother killed him was because he _choose_ to become consumed by darkness.

_He was tricked..._ Antonio thought, rubbing at his red and swollen eyes. _Antonello... gave up his life to make me happy... He didn't have to..._

Knowing that it was his fault that his brother died was too much for him to handle. His brother used to be such a calm and nurturing soul until he kept pushing on the heart strings that his twin was holding. It was all his fault that Antonello became the person he is now.

_No!_ _I can make it up to him! I...I can make him see that he doesn't need to take Lovino's heart! Antonello can become an angel like me! I... he can... right?_

Antonio didn't know if an event such as that could happen, but he knew he wanted to try his hardest to make it happen. If not, he would gladly give himself up to make his twin happy. The angel slowly stood up and looked back at the church, a more determined expression now present on his face. He had to make Antonello see that there wasn't any need for him to take Lovino's heart.

_I can make him see that... I can change him and help him see that he was never alone!_

With a nod of his head, Antonio flew up and headed away from the church. There was some place he needed to go before he went to the church. He didn't know if it would still be there, but he was going to look into it. Even if it was for naught, he still wanted to go there and see.

Antonio slowly closed in on a small house that seemed to be abandoned. He landed in front of the door before walking in, looking around to see that no one had been in it for years. It still looked the same as Antonio remembered it though.

The table that his family used to sit at was covered in a thick layer of dust along with the couch and the rest of the house. He slowly walked over to the door that was very familiar to him. The one that led to his room where he would always spend his time when he was alive. The angel took a deep breath before turning the knob and opening it, seeing that everything was still how it was. The one thing that caught his eye, however, was the necklaces that he and his twin had worn. They were sitting there, covered in a thick layer of dust like everything else.

Antonio walked over to them and gently picked them up, brushing the dust off of them the best he could. The red and green stones on them still had a slight sparkle to them even with the dust that was still stuck on it. Antonio slightly smiled, feeling his eyes well up with tears. It had only been 16 years since he had died but it seemed like much, _much_ longer than before. The angel shook his head, rubbing at his eyes harshly. To think that all of this could have been avoided if his heart had gotten stronger when he was a child, then Antonello and him would still be alive and living their days happily.

He took a deep breath, placing the red stone necklace around his neck and discreetly placing the other one in his pocket. Antonio wanted to give it back to Antonello again so his brother wasn't mad at him anymore. He wanted his brother and him to make up again so he could help Antonello become an angel like he was. It pained Antonio too much to know that the only reason Antonello was a devil was because he had been the one to save him. With another deep breath, Antonio flew out of the house and headed back towards the church. He would leave all of his childhood memories in that house for the time being. Maybe, one day, he would return to it.

Eventually, he went back towards the church and entered it. He could hear a voice, but it wasn't Lovino's. It was Feliciano's instead, but the tone the Italian had was much less cheerful than before. He looked at the younger Italian's expression and saw something dark there. It was something Antonio knew wasn't true of Feliciano. Feliciano was always cheerful and happy, wanting to help others feel that way, but now it was different.

Antonio bit his lower lip as he landed in front of him, staring deep into his eyes before taking several steps back. His eyes widened three times their original size as he felt the dark aura from Feliciano and the darker color of his eyes. Antonio knew that something had transpired while he was gone.

This made the angel worry greatly and, now, wondered if anything was wrong with Lovino. He quickly flew towards Lovino's room before feeling all his energy drain from him and collapse to the ground.

"W...What...?" Antonio softly said, shakily sitting up and looking at Lovino's door. Nothing seemed wrong but he could feel a strong presence coming from the hall. Whatever it was, Antonio didn't like it one bit. He shakily got up and started walking towards the door this time. His shaky hands slowly found their way to the door knob and he slowly opened it. The room was empty though. The angel bit his lower lip before changing into a human, knowing he would have a better time walking around that way.

Taking in a deep breath, Antonio ran down the hall towards their grandfather's room. Even as a human, Antonio could feel a strong energy radiating from the room. He slowed down until he was at the door and then just stopped. His heart was racing at this point and he could only worry more. With another deep breath, Antonio took hold of the door and opened it. A gush of dark energy spilled out, causing Antonio's breath to hitch in his throat. However, his eyes widened upon seeing what was in front of him.

Lovino's body was laying on the floor on his back. The Italian's eyes were dull and almost lifeless. His body was shrouded in a dark energy that Antonio knew could only be created by _one_ person who wasn't his brother. The angel's body shook a bit as he took small steps forward, trying to get past the gust of wind swirling around the room.

"Lovi..." Antonio softly said, holding onto the wall for support. His hands gripped the wall as his emerald green eyes started to blaze with a new energy. "LUCIFER!"

A laughter filled surrounded the room, making Antonio's brows furrow. "Well, Well," the voice laughed as a man with long black hair tied up into a ponytail floated mere inches from where Lovino was. On the man's back were bat like wings that resembled Antonello's, but were meatier in appearance and darker. "If it isn't the brother of Antonello."

"What are you doing!" Antonio yelled, taking another step forward. "Where's Antonello!"

"That worthless piece of shit? I disposed of him," Lucifer stated. As he smirked, sharp fangs could be seen from the man's incisors and his blood red eyes flashed a bit as they held an image of amusement.

"W-What! W-What do you mean!"

"He didn't give me what I wanted for helping him all those years ago, so I disposed of him for it. After all... unlike angels devils can be killed by the one ruling over them."

Antonio's eyes widened as an image from black smoke flashed before him. The image of his brother being killed by Lucifer. Antonello's body being ripped apart by the same dark energy that was surrounding Lovino this very moment. Tears fell from Antonio's eyes as he fell to his knees, knowing there wasn't any hope in helping his brother anymore.

"H-How dare you!" Antonio glared up at Lucifer through tear filled eyes. "L-Let Lovi go!"

"I can't do that. You see... Your brother promised me the boy's heart for me giving you his." Antonio felt his body freeze in place as he heard this. So that was why he survived? Antonello gave up his heart in order to save him?

"You see... I couldn't exactly have a heart like yours to eat. So, he promised me he would give me a heart in exchange for saving you with his. Well... originally it was supposed to be his own heart that he gave to you that he was supposed to give me, but he turned soft and killed you before that time." Lucifer's expression became one of anger as he reflected back on that time. "Always hated him... I knew there was something about him that wasn't right in his head. Even when he was supposed to take this boy's heart, he turned soft."

_Antonello..._ Antonio thought, staring up at Lucifer as he acquired all of this new information.

"W-What about Feli! W-Why is he-!"

"Heh... I thought I'd have a little fun controlling him for a while," Lucifer stated, folding his arms. "Get him to tell those people that religion is nothing but bullshit and that they should just stop believing in it." Lucifer laughed as he looked down at Lovino. "The minute this boy loses the will to live, I can claim his heart." He then frowned. "But he's stubborn..." he smiled once again. "Thought his will is about to break."

Antonio looked over at Lovino, feeling his stomach churn. He stood back up before running towards Lovino. Lucifer's angered expression returned as he shot an attack at Antonio, but it didn't work. The devil only ended up shielding his eyes from a bright light that consumed both the angel and the Italian in it.

As the light faded, Lucifer felt his eyes widen at seeing the sight before him. Large wings were present on Antonio's back and a divine light surrounded him. Antonio's eyes slowly opened to reveal pure white eyes.

"I...It can't be..." Lucifer softly said with disbelief. "That can't be!"

In Antonio's arms was an unconscious Lovino whose face was _very_ pale. Antonio stared at Lucifer before disappearing in another bright light and leaving Lucifer alone in the room. The devil softly cursed as his fists clenched.

"I won't let it end this way..." he growled before disappearing himself.

Antonio set Lovino down next to an unconscious Feliciano, brushing his bangs back before looking up at Lucifer who appeared behind him. The two stared at each other, Lucifer's crimson eyes now turning a dark, black color. Antonio stood up before flying into the air. The two then disappeared from the church and ending up outside.

"You won't get away with any of this Lucifer!" Antonio yelled, tears streaming down his face. "You'll pay for what you did to my brother!"

"You won't even be able to survive stupid angel..." Lucifer commented. He moved his hands until a sharp blade appeared in it. Antonio swallowed a large lump in his throat as he saw it, knowing that he could die with just one, heavy touch from the blade. "You have nothing to protect yourself with... You'll die before this even ends!"

Antonio closed his eyes, placing a gentle hand over his chest before opening them again. "I won't lose... I believe it..." he softly said. His voice seemed to echo as he spoke these words. "I won't lose... Not until I protect the ones that are important to me..."

Lucifer's eyes narrowed more, his wings expanding to a larger form. Antonio looked on as his hand started to pull away from his chest, a white and more heavenly blade appearing from his chest. He grabbed it and held it out in front of him as though he had done it before.

"Damn you angel... I hate your kind..."

"Every life is worth spending all of eternity trying to live... only those with evil hearts should have to become devils... Not because of a wish that they _think_ or _wish_ someone would want!" Antonio's body slightly shook as he said those words, remembering both Antonello's sacrifice and Lovino's childhood.

He knew that Antonello wanted to help him and that Lovino only wanted his family to pay more attention to him. Of course, both of those ended in tragedy. Antonio closed his eyes again, wanting to forget those but knowing he couldn't.

"DIE!" Lucifer yelled as he attacked Antonio who easily dodged it. Even if he didn't want to fight, Antonio knew he was fighting for more than just himself. He was fighting for his brother and Lovino's happiness. Antonio turned around in time for both blades to collide with each other, sending a vibration through the air that shook the ground under them. Antonio and Lucifer's arms both shook a bit as they tried to fight the other off, neither letting up.

"Just give up..." Lucifer growled. "You can't win against a devil with your inexperience!"

"You don't know that..." Antonio replied, feeling the tears welling up in his eyes again. "As long as you have something or someone worth fighting for, you can't lose!" Antonio sent Lucifer back a bit and flew up towards the sky just as the dark clouds rumbled. Lucifer followed after, not caring about anything else.

_Forgive me Lovi... I might not be able to see you again..._ Antonio thought, vanishing into the cloud tops. Another rumble gave way from the sky before the rain started to pour.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**Huhu~ I give you another chapter to go with the last one I just uploaded~ ouo**

**yes. I am so awesome/shot**

**XD I'm joking but I hope you enjoy!**


	20. Chapter 19

Lovino's eyes slowly opened as he heard someone calling his name. He couldn't recognize it at first, but as his mind cleared he could hear that it was his brother. His brother was the one who was call his name over and over again in a desperate tone. Lovino let out a soft groan as his eyes looked around a bit, trying to clear his mind.

"Fratello!" Feliciano exclaimed happily, gently hugging his brother. Lovino groaned again before shakily patting his brother on the back with one hand. Feliciano gently pulled away from his brother but still held his upper body in his arms. "I-I'm… s-so glad you're okay…" Lovino stared up at his brother who was on the verge of tears.

"…sorry… f-for worrying you…" Lovino softly apologized as he sat up with his brother's help. He looked around the church and saw that there wasn't anyone there. "Weren't… you giving a sermon earlier…?"

"Si… I was but I woke up and everyone was gone… a-and you were next to me…"

"Oh…." Lovino cringed a bit but didn't try moving anywhere else. He felt like there was something wrong with him, or someone else. "…Feliciano… can you get me some water?"

Feliciano nodded as he stood up and quickly left the room. Lovino took this chance to shakily stand up and walk out the front of the church. He didn't even care that it was raining outside. He took a few deep breathes and then began to walk down the street, almost in a daze. He looked up towards the sky and saw a strange flash in the sky. Lovino continued to stare at it before seeing a familiar figure hurtle through the sky.

"Antonio…" he softly whispered, eyes widening a bit as he saw the angel. Lovino continued to watch as Antonio and Lucifer fought before running towards the area he saw Antonio hurtle towards. The Italian's bare feet slammed against the cold, wet ground as he continued to run as though his life depended on it.

As Lovino continued to run, it seemed as everything had blended together into a blur. His mind was only focused on one thing and, as he came upon it, he froze in place. He stood there, looking upon Antonio. The angel was pinned down by the shoulder by Lucifer's sword and a he could hear Antonio letting out choked screams as it burned his skin.

Lucifer laughed. "Pathetic… is this all an angel with such power can give?" Lovino felt his legs shaking as he took a step back, only to feel himself being grabbed from behind. The Italian let out a soft gasp as he looked up, seeing dark brown eyes looking down at him. It was only seconds before Lovino felt himself being strapped against something, but he couldn't see what it was.

Then, right before his eyes, everything looked as though it was changing. The field that they had once been in was now a paved area. They were enclosed by walls all around them. Lovino's eyes widened as he saw the area they were in.

"Fratello!" Lovino heard his brother scream, making his stomach churn more as he realized all those nightmares he had been having were coming true. An unknown place. His brother screaming. It was all coming true right before his eyes.

"_You can make it all go away,"_ Lovino heard a voice say echoing around him. The Italian shook his head, trying to make it go away. _"You can save your brother…"_ Tears started to fall down Lovino's face as he shook, heavily. _"I can save your brother in exchange for something of yours…"_

"…of mine?" Lovino asked softly, eyes becoming dull as he said this. The tears still flowed as he heard the voice say the same thing over and over again along with the screams of his brother. It was hard for the Italian to handle. His body heavily shook as his head dropped in defeat. He knew he didn't want to die but he didn't want his brother to die even more. What did he have to give up though? What would he have to give up _just_ to save his brother? Lovino let out a choked sob. "…Feliciano… I want to save him…"

"Is that your final wish?"

"…si…"

0-0-0

Antonio panted as he looked around the cloud tops for Lucifer who seemed to just disappear. The angel was cautious as to not get distracted though. He was going to be careful, knowing that Lucifer had several tricks up his sleeve. However, even after minutes passed there was nothing around. No movement, no sounds, nothing. Antonio floated there for a long time before hearing a piercing scream fill the air, making his entire body run cold. That voice was familiar, which made the angel freeze in place before looking in the direction it came from.

"LOVI!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: sorry for the chapter being so short... I'm going to being going on a small hiatus from this for awhile. I don't have inspiration to write this at the moment. So please bare with me!**


	21. Chapter 20

"FRATELLO!" Feliciano's scream could be heard as Antonio got closer and closer to where the screams had been coming from. Antonio felt his entire being grow cold as he stopped, staring down at Lovino's body that was laying against Feliciano. The amber colored eyes were closed and Antonio swallowed heavily.

"Fratello! P-Please wake up!" Feliciano begged, tears streaming down his face. Antonio knelt down beside Lovino and touched his cheek, feeling the heat rapidly escaping from it. He felt a pang of pain as he looked up, seeing the faint image of a figure behind the younger brother. Antonio shook his head, looking down. Feliciano choked out another sob as he clung to his brother more, wanting everything to go back to go back to normal. He wanted his brother to come back and everything to be alright.

_I… wasn't able to…_ Antonio thought before he shook his head and gently took Lovino's hand, placing his other hand on top of it as well. A different look appeared in his eyes as he looked at the Italian's pale face. His own emerald colored eyes blinked back a few tears as he continued to look down at Lovino.

"Lovi… I can grant you a wish…" Antonio softly said. "What do you want me to grant you?" there was no answer for a while, making Antonio feel he was too late. However, eventually a faint sound reached Antonio.

"_I… want…"_

0-0-0

"Well, Well, if it isn't Antonio the stupid angel," Lucifer smirked as he looked at the angel who was floating in front of him. "What do I owe this _honor_?" Of course, Lucifer was only joking when he had said that last part. He could care less about what Antonio had to say.

"You're disgusting, you know that?" Antonio stated bluntly, making Lucifer raise a brow in confusion.

"I never thought I'd hear-" Lucifer was cut off as he felt a sharp pain radiating in his chest. As he looked down, he could see the pure white blade that Antonio had had earlier. However, the blade had been stuck through his back instead of the other way like he thought it would be. As he looked behind him, there he could see Antonio himself.

The devil's eyes widened as he looked ahead and saw that, in front of him, was not Antonio but Antonello. A dark, black liquid flowed from his chest and mouth as he glared at the devil in front of him.

"Antonello… curse you…" he growled.

"Did you really think you could get rid of me?" Antonello asked, smirking. "You're an idiot. Did you forget that, no matter how much power you have, you can't kill another devil. You can only kill an angel with it."

"Curse… you…." Lucifer softly said before his entire being disappeared from sight. Antonio heavily panted as he landed on the roof where Lucifer had been.

"Hermano…" Antonio softly said with a smile. "Thank you…"

Antonello smiled as he waved to his brother. "Welcome. I have to go now."

"B-But…"

"I know what you're thinking… even though you want me to be an angel, I can't. I changed into this form because I wanted to help you and so I have to stay like this… but… I'm glad I was your brother…"

Antonio blushed softly as tears fell from his eyes. "…I…I'll see you…" Antonello smiled and waved to his brother again before disappearing from sight. Antonio smiled a bit, rubbing his eyes and looking towards the sky.

Now… everything seemed to be right with the world for the time being.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I know, I know. This chapter is pretty short as well but that's what I wanted. I promise the next chapter will be longer than this and the last and final chapter will be even longer than that one.**

**Hope you enjoy~**


	22. Chapter 21

The sun hung heavy in the summer sky. The clear blue sky shown and a few clouds were slowly starting to form. Feliciano looked up from his sweeping of the church steps, his mind reflecting on the last few months. His chocolate-honey eyes had a slight glazed over look as a gentle breeze ruffled his clothing.

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Exactly what it sounds like…"_

The sun was beating down on Feliciano, making the Italian smile a little bit as he went back to his sweeping. Once in a while he would greet a small child and parent that happened to walk by him. The Italian couldn't help but smile as he saw the two of them.

"_I… don't understand…"_

Feliciano took in a deep breath, letting the fresh air enter his lungs. The last few months seemed to have gone by rather quickly. After his brother passed out, he thought he was going to be left alone but he wasn't. The younger Italian was rather grateful for that.

"_He has no heart… he's lucky to be alive at all."_

With one last look around, Feliciano headed back inside and began to prepare for the evening service. Ever since Lovino had been unable to really move much, Feliciano had only been having sermons in the evening time only. No one really minded this change.

"_No… heart? W-What happened to it?"_

"_I don't know… It should be right in this black area, but it's not."_

Feliciano nodded as he went towards the garden, having a few minutes to spare before he had to do anything. He looked around and found his older brother sitting in his wheelchair near the large, oak tree that was not too far away from the church. Feliciano ran over and knelt down next to his brother.

"Ciao Fratello~" Feliciano greeted happily, though his brother didn't even seem to notice that he was there. Feliciano's smile faltered a moment but it returned only seconds later.

"_Fratello… will die someday?"_

"_I'm afraid so… It's a miracle he's even still alive now…"_

Feliciano looked out at what his brother was looking at, seeing the colorful field in front of them. The younger Italian smiled more as he saw it.

"It's so pretty Fratello~ I didn't know you liked things like this~"

"…Si…." The older brother softly replied. "…I like… the carnations…" Feliciano slightly looked up at Lovino, frowning again. Even though he had only known Antonio for the short time, he could tell his brother had somehow fallen in love with him. Ever since he and Lovino went on vacation, Antonio never contacted them again.

"_How… long does he have?"_

"…_I'm not sure… if he's lucky 2 or three years… but I can't say for sure…"_

Feliciano laid his head on his hands on the arm of the wheelchair, staring at the scenery. The sun was now painting the sky an array of colors by this time, making the scenery even more beautiful than it already was. Feliciano smiled before standing up and brushing off his outfit.

"I have to get to service," he stated as he looked down at his brother. "Come inside before it gets dark, okay~?"

Lovino slightly looked up at his brother and nodded before looking back at the scenery again. Feliciano gave a weak smile before heading back towards the church. Once he was far enough away from his brother, the Italian sighed and looked towards the ground. His brother really hadn't been the same since the incident those few months ago. The doctor had told him Lovino's body was going to slowly get weaker and weaker each month that passed until he died. Feliciano didn't _want_ to lose his brother though, which was what made his heart clench. Feliciano didn't _want_ to be left alone by himself. The younger Italian took one last glance back out at the field before he entered the church. He really hoped that everything would go well for the next few years and, by some miracle, his older brother would stay with him forever.

0-0-0

Like always, Lovino sat outside in his wheelchair, staring out into the garden with a glazed over look in his eyes. The once lively, amber eyes were now replaced with the blank expression that had been there since the incident. The older Italian could no longer move his lower body by this point and had to spend the rest of his life sitting in a wheelchair. Lovino remembered all those years ago on what he had asked Antonio to do for him.

"_What is it? I'll grant you anything you want."_

"_I… want… to spend a few more years… with my little brother…"_

At the time, Lovino didn't really want anything more than to spend his time with his little brother. After everything that had happened, he didn't want to leave him all alone without a bit of time for the two to recover from it.

"_Are you sure that's what you want Lovi?"_

"_Si…"_

As he sat there, he looked down at the small cup in his hands that his brother had brought out to him. It was only a fourth full with water by this time. The clear water reflected his eyes in it, making the Italian zone out even more than he already was.

"Lovi…" a familiar voice said to him. The Italian looked up to see Antonio in front of him with a small smile on his face and gentle, emerald eyes. "Lovi… it's time to go now…"

"…Already…?"

"Yes… it's already time…"

Lovino stared up at Antonio for a long time before looking back down again as he heard Feliciano call his name. His grip on the cup tightened a bit as his gaze stayed down. Antonio stared at Lovino with a saddened look on his eyes but only nodded.

"A few more minutes is all I can give you…" Antonio softly commented. Lovino slightly nodded his head as his brother knelt down next to him.

"Ve~ Fratello~" Feliciano smiled happily as he looked up at his brother. "Are you ready to go into town?" Lovino was silent before looking over at his brother with those dull, amber colored orbs.

"Feliciano…" Lovino softly said.

"S-Si?" Feliciano asked, not liking to tone in his older brother's voice. The younger Italian then flinched a bit as Lovino placed one of his hands over his.

"..don't… stay attached to this place…" Lovino softly began to say. "You should go… a-and find yourself a pretty girl… and you… you should marry her a-and be happy…." Feliciano's eyes widened a bit as he heard his brother say this, not understanding why his older brother was even suggesting such a thing.

"Ve…? W-Why are you…?"

"Feliciano… you're…. still in contact with that girl… you met when we went on vacation… right?"

"S-Si… why?"

"You liked her… right?"

"S-Si…" Feliciano blushed a bit as he shyly smiled. "I did. She was really pretty~"

"Then… you should… go date her… a-and… maybe… one day you two will be married…"

"O-Okay… if you really want me to fratello~" Feliciano seemed to have forgotten the first part his brother had said and just looked up at him with a bright smile. Hearing his brother suggest him marrying was a little strange but he also didn't mind it either. Lovino couldn't help but smile a bit at his brother's excitement of him saying this before he looked back down.

"If… if you have a child… will you give him this?" Lovino asked as he pulled off the cross that was around his neck, gently placing it in his brother's hand. "Give him o-or her that…"

"Ve? O-Okay…" Feliciano was starting to get nervous again as his brother said this, but waited to see if Lovino could continue with what he was going to say.

"…Grazie fratello…" Lovino softly said, smiling more and having a rather gentle look on his face. "Take… care… of your…self… Ti… voglio…bene…."

Feliciano's eyes widened more as he watched his brother's eyes slowly start to close, almost as if everything had sudden turned into slow motion. It wasn't long before his brother had gone completely limp and the cup that was once in his brother's hand shattered to the ground below.

"F…Fratello…?" Feliciano asked, his voice cracking a bit as he gently shook his brother's shoulder. "F-Fratello? D-Don't joke around… Fratello?" Feliciano placed a few fingers against his brother's neck and felt the tears that had been building up start to flow from his eyes.

"FRATELLO!"

Antonio looked down at Feliciano, feeling a saddened feeling wash over him. He looked over towards the Italian whose hand he held.

"Don't… you think that was a bit cruel Lovi? Saying good-bye to your brother like that?" Antonio asked. Lovino said nothing, making Antonio sigh. "Alright… Let's go then Lovi…" Lovino nodded as he left Antonio drag him away. The last thing that reached Lovino's eyes was the image of his brother heavily sobbing on the lap of his limp body. That imaged filled his mind until, eventually, everything blurred and faded to nothing.


	23. Epilogue

'_It's been 18 years since that time. It's really hard to believe that so much happened. Within the few years I had to spend with my brother, he was always telling me of what had happened, though I only thought it was a story that he made up. Of course, it did explain a bit on why he didn't have a heart at that incident. I had really thought I was going to lose my brother on that day, but he survived. Lovino had told me it was because Antonio had saved him and that Antonio was an angel who was trying to protect him._

_It was hard for me to believe since I knew my brother didn't believe in that kind of stuff. Angels and devils? That was something Lovino never believed in at all. The only Antonio I knew was the one who was helping take care of my brother that one time and, even if he didn't want to admit it, I really believe he was in love with Antonio. Lovino probably never wanted to say anything since it was against the laws of the church and against our religion. Though… somehow I couldn't hate him for it since Lovino never actually got the attention I thought he deserved._

_Even if I didn't understand if all those years ago, I realized I was always the favorite of my parents and, sadly, even my grandfather. I know my grandfather tried to give both of us as much attention as he could, but I finally realized I was the one getting most of it. I wonder if that's why my brother was always pushing me away along with everyone else. It was rather strange at first, but I finally realized what it was. I guess getting older really does make you smarter even if you don't realize it at first. Even though my brother always kept me away, I still think he loved me though I wished he had displayed it more when he was still alive. When he told me he loved me that moment before he died, I felt happy but also broken inside since that had been the first time he had truly meant it._

_Those words I will never forget. That smile that my brother had given me for the first time will always be with me. Even that peaceful look on Lovino's face will forever be with me since those really made me happy. I wished that he could have gotten to see him smile like that more and be who he wanted. I wish he had gotten that attention he had needed before he died. But… maybe it was better off this way? He probably wouldn't have been happy being alive longer than the time he did live without Antonio there with him._

_I really hope Lovino is happy wherever he is now. As for me? I got married to that girl I found on vacation that one time. I guess my brother was right when he said I would probably marry her one day. I just wish he could have been at my wedding.'_

"Papa…" a small child's voice came from behind a man with slightly messy, light auburn hair. He turned around to see a small child with shoulder-length, light auburn hair.

"What's wrong Lovino?" he asked as he stood from his desk and walked over to the door, picking the child up. The child, Lovino, was carrying a small bunny under his arm.

"Nighware…"

"A nightmare?" Lovino nodded, sniffling. "It's okay Lovino. It's okay." Lovino nodded and snuggled against his father.

"Feliciano?" a woman's voice asked as she walked into view. The man looked at the woman with short blonde hair and pale blue eyes. "You're still awake?"

"Si~" Feliciano smiled. "I was just writing something~"

"I see… You really should come to bed…"

"I will~ I just wanted to finish this up Lucy~"

"Alright…" The woman, Lucy, walked up to Feliciano and gently placed her hands around Lovino but the child only started to whimper.

"It's okay Lu~ I can take care of him~"

"Alright… just don't stay up too long…" Feliciano nodded and softly kissed Lucy on the lips before she walked back down the hall. Feliciano smiled and looked down at Lovino who was sucking his thumb and beginning to fall asleep again. The Italian man smiled and kissed his son on the head before walking to the child's room and laying him on the bed. He kissed Lovino on the head again before quietly walking out, closing the door behind him.

Feliciano walked down the hall to the bedroom and laid down in the bed with his wife. He smiled before drifting off to sleep.

0-0-0

_Ding-Dong,_ the sound of the doorbell rang. Feliciano stood up from playing with Lovino and walked to the door, opening it. As the door slowly opened, the Italian man's eyes widened as he looked upon the two teenagers that were standing in front of them. One of them was a man with messy, chocolate colored hair and emerald green eyes while the other was a girl with brown hair slightly pass her shoulders with amber eyes.

_A..Antonio? L…Lovino?_ Feliciano asked in thought as he stared at the two, not believing what he was seeing at the moment. Of course, Feliciano's staring only made the girl uncomfortable and moved behind the other man.

"Um… excuse me…" the young male teen said after a few awkward moments of Feliciano just staring at the two.

"Ah… S-Si?" Feliciano asked, finally snapping out of his daze. "Can I help you with something?"

"We were wondering if you could help us with something?"

"Sure! Come on in~" Feliciano smiled at the two and moved aside, allowing the two inside. The male reassured the girl before the two walked into the house.

"Thank you. Oh. My name's Antonio and this is Chiara."

_Antonio… and Chiara…_ Feliciano said in thought as he looked at the two. Those two really did look like his brother and Antonio. He wondered if there was a reason for that?

"My name's Feliciano~"

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Feliciano," Antonio smiled before he gently nudged Chiara who slightly looked up at the older man.

"I..It's… nice to meet you…" she mumbled, averting her eyes from the man in front of her. Feliciano couldn't help but smile a bit as Chiara greeted him. So much like his brother that it made him a little sad but he kept a smile on his face.

"So, what can I help you two with?"

Antonio looked down at Chiara before looking up at Feliciano again and speaking, "well, we were wondering if we could get a map?"

"A map? Can I ask what for?"

"Well…" Antonio looked back down at Chiara again before looking up once more. "We… want to get somewhere we can get married."

"Aw~ That's cute~" Feliciano chimed, making both of the teens blush. Feliciano couldn't help but softly giggle at how cute the two looked and lead them over to the couch, letting them sit down. "I'll be right back~" Feliciano walked off, leaving Chiara and Antonio in the living room with Lovino.

The child looked up at the two strangers that were sitting on the couch, his dark blue eyes staring at them curiously. He continued to sit there for a while before standing up with his stuffed bunny in hand and walking over to them. He stood there and looked up at the two. Antonio looked at him and smiled happily.

"Hola~ Who are you little one~?" he asked. Lovino sucked his thumb, not answering the man. "Aw~ Aren't you cute~ Isn't he cute Chiara~?" Antonio looked up at Chiara who only blushed more but slightly nodded in agreement. Lovino sucked on his thumb for a few more minutes before taking it out and tugging on Chiara's long, red skirt.

"Pwetty…" Lovino said as he looked up at the woman in front of him. Chiara blushed at that but slightly smiled as she patted him on the head. Lovino giggled as he made grabbing motions towards her. "Pwetty~!" Chiara blushed more and picked Lovino up, placing the child on her lap. Lovino giggled as he showed Chiara his stuffed bunny. "Bwunny~"

"Ah… I..I see it…" Chiara softly said, blushing a bit more. Antonio smiled and kissed the woman's cheek.

"You look so cute with that child on your lap sweetie~" Antonio chimed, making Chiara heavily blush and look over at him.

"S-SH!" she hissed. "I-I-It's n-n-not t-true!" Antonio couldn't help but laugh as he wrapped his arms around Chiara's waist, pulling her closer.

"Don't be embarrassed Chia~ It's true~" Chiara would have protested, but Feliciano came back into the room and looked at the three, gently smiling. The older Italian man couldn't help but think the scene in front of him was rather sweet.

"Are you disturbing them Lovino?" Feliciano asked his son as he sat down near the two teens. Lovino looked over at his father and smiled, pointing to Chiara.

"Pwetty~"

"I see~ I think your mommy's prettier~" Lovino giggled and snuggled his stuffed animal. "Lovino, why don't you go see if mommy needs help with making lunch~" Lovino nodded and crawled off of Chiara's lap and then walking out of the living room.

"He's cute~" Antonio commented as he looked over at Feliciano. "How old is he~?"

"He's 3 years old," Feliciano replied.

"He has a nice name too~"

"Thanks~ He was named after my late brother."

"Oh? I'm sorry to hear that…"

"It's okay~ I know he's in a good place now~" Feliciano commented, handing the map out to Antonio and Chiara. "Here's a map~ I hope you two find where you want to go~" Antonio took it and smiled, nodding in reply.

"Thank you so much~ We don't know how we could repay you~"

"Well~ If you two have children you can send pictures of them~" Antonio and Chiara heavily blushed as Feliciano said this but Antonio only smiled and nodded.

"W-We'll do that." Antonio stood up, taking Chiara's hand. "Thank you for your help Mr. Feliciano. We really appreciate it."

Feliciano nodded. "Take care of her Antonio~ She lucky to have you~" Antonio blushed more.

"S-si… Thank you…." Antonio softly said. "Bye Mr. Feliciano."

"B-Bye…" Chiara softly said as the two walked out the door. Feliciano waved to the two, glad to know both of them were happy to have each other. He faintly smiled as he remembered his older brother and then softly laughing.

0-0-0

'_After that day, I got a few letters from Chiara and Antonio. Apparently the two ran away from home to get married since Chiara's parents didn't approve of her marriage to Antonio. Apparently Antonio was named after one of his great-grandparents' first child. It was surprising to me that the two would tell me so much information about themselves, but I didn't mind. I guess I acted more like a parent to them then their actual parents did. It was only three years later that they sent me a picture of their twins. They really seem like their family would turn out wonderful. The two, from what I know, have been living happily since they left my house when we first met. I'm glad to know they were happy._

_Chiara reminded me so much of my older brother that I felt like she was reincarnated from him. It may seem weird, but I still had beliefs like that even though I wasn't a priest anymore. I had really believed that those two were the reincarnations of Antonio and Lovino. If that was true, I'm happy that they were able to be happy even if it wasn't in the life that they had once had. Though… I suppose it was better for them to restart their lives the way they wanted it to be. If Chiara is Lovino's reincarnation, then I'm glad my brother was able to be happy for the first time in his life. It really did make me happy thinking that._

_It was really wonderful seeming those two and knowing that they were able to be together in the end.'_

- Entry in Feliciano Vargas's Journal -

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><p><strong>AN: **

**And... this is it.**

**ouo This is the final chapter of this story~ Hoped you enjoyed the story and continue to support my future stories~**


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